Portland Public Schools will direct students to eat lunch outside for the first 6 weeks of the year - OregonLive

The state’s largest district is breaking out the picnic supplies for the first six weeks of the new school year.

Top brass at Portland Public Schools say they’re directing officials at each of their 81 campuses to have students eat lunch outside for the first month-and-a-half of the coming academic year, according to a presentation to the school board Tuesday night.

It’s their creative and research-based recognition that lunchtime, when students gather en masse and will remove their masks to eat, could be the trickiest part of the school day for schools to manage amid COVID-19.

The virus is much less likely, although not impossible, to transmit in outdoor settings than inside.

In the coming days, administrators at the district’s 80-plus schools will develop school-specific “meal service safety plans” in the event that conditions including bad weather mean lunches can’t be held outside, according to the presentation.

Officials did not specify what those circumstances might be, but shortly after classes began last year, the district temporarily halted meal deliveries as smoke from nearby wildfires made the air too toxic for nutritional workers to do so safely. The district’s outdoor meal plans also stretch into mid-October, when temperatures typically drop and summer sun is often replaced by autumn rains.

Portland Public Schools appears to be the only major district in the metro area that plans to default to outdoor lunches.

Hillsboro district spokesperson Beth Grazer told The Oregonian/OregonLive that most of her district’s schools plan on having students eat in the cafeteria. Elementary schoolers will have assigned seats during their lunch times.

Some Hillsboro schools may opt to have students eat in their classrooms or take their lunch outside.

“Schools are empowered to problem-solve and make the best possible plan they can based on their circumstances,” Grazer said.

Beaverton district spokesperson Shellie Bailey-Shah said that, to the extent possible, schools will try to have students sit three feet apart, regardless of where they eat.

“However, depending on the school building, that may be difficult,” she said.

Beaverton school leaders may use indoor spaces other than the school cafeteria to ensure students are properly spaced, Shah told The Oregonian/OregonLive. In some cases — and weather permitting — schools may also have students eat lunch outside.

The various approaches fall in line with the Oregon Department of Education’s scant guidance on how schools should operate during meal times. The agency’s latest set of rules merely says districts should ensure students sit in a well-ventilated area while they eat and suggest that schools serve meals outside.

Every Oregon district, like those nationwide, can provide free school breakfasts and lunches to any student who wants one, regardless of family income, this school year and get federal reimbursement under a special pandemic-related provision of the federal school nutrition program.

Portland Public Schools shared its lunch protocols with some school communities as recently as Monday, according to several parents.

The district said it will share a comprehensive back-to-school plan with families on Monday, two days before classes begin.

--Eder Campuzano | 503-221-4344 | @edercampuzano | Eder on Facebook

Eder is The Oregonian’s education reporter. Do you have a tip about Portland Public Schools? Email ecampuzano@oregonian.com.

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Portland Public Schools will direct students to eat lunch outside for the first 6 weeks of the year - OregonLive
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