Appalachian School Districts’ Responses to the Nutritional Needs of Students During the Early Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic Open Access
Chen, Deborah K. (Spring 2021)
Abstract
In March 2020 all schools in the United States had closed their doors to in-person education and moved to virtual learning. While this nonpharmaceutical intervention was put in place as a way to combat the spread of COVID-19, it took away a vital safety net for families and students struggling with food insecurity. This evaluation looked at the responses of four different school districts across three different regions in Appalachia – Northern Appalachia, Central Appalachia, and Southern Appalachia – in order to better understand how school districts responded to meet the nutritional needs of students during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Eight different participants were interviewed who held a variety of roles throughout the school systems. These interviews were analyzed through thematic analysis as well as case studies. The overall theme which emerged from the data was that school are more integral in students’ lives than just serving as a place to learn. Three subthemes were identified which were as follows: tying education and nutrition together appears to positively influence learning of students, understanding the community is vital to shaping the response, and partnering with other organizations can strengthen the reach of the response. While the responses varied by district, each district had a response. Responses that were successful found ways to tie the nutrition response to education, tailored the response to the community and found ways to make meals accessible and decrease as many barriers as possible so students and their families could easily participate in the response. Knowing how school districts responded to the needs of students reliant on the Free and Reduced Lunch Program during the COVID-19 pandemic is vital for any future planning of other responses that may occur.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction and Statement of the Problem........................................... 1
Chapter 2: Review of Literature..................................................................... 7
Chapter 3: Methodology.............................................................................. 22
Chapter 4: Results..................................................................................... 29
Chapter 5: Conclusions, Implications, and Recommendations.................................. 42
Appendices............................................................................................. 51
Appendix A: Interview Guide.................................................................... 52
Appendix B: Participant Data and Individual Case Summaries by Region................ 55
Appendix C: Case Summaries by Region...................................................... 58
References.............................................................................................. 59
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