The West Central Valley School Board held a special meeting Wednesday night in response to the novel coronavirus 2019 pandemic.

The Board approved a resolution prepared by the Iowa Association of School Boards which included provisions to suspend any Board policy necessary to implement guidance from state and federal agencies relating to containing COVID-19, and continue to pay non-exempt employees to promote morale and help retain current employees following the closure, though the Board shall reevaluate this decision if school remains closed after four weeks.

They also discussed plans for distributing meals to kids 18 years and younger in the district’s four communities during the closure, while the backpack program continues to operate on Fridays. At this time the District plans to prepare breakfast and lunch meals at the high school, and distribute the meals to Dexter, Menlo, Redfield, and Stuart on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for five days a week beginning March 23rd. Families were asked to sign up to partake in the program, which Co-Superintendent Rusty Shockley says they so far have over a hundred participating. While the public was restricted from attending the special meeting to abide by social distancing guidelines, the Board encourages the public to take part through the Zoom video conference program until further notice.