Bus drivers deliver grab-and-go meals to students in need

By Tia Harris

I live in a really close-knit community in Cibola County, N.M., where everybody pretty much knows everybody and where we all kind of look out for each other. A lot of families are struggling. Many of them are on public assistance, and some are even homeless; there are many kids who get their meals at school. When Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham closed schools on March 13 in an effort to stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, our local superintendent pulled together a group of school employees — educators, cafeteria and transportation workers, logistics and finance people — to figure out what kids need during the shutdown and how to meet those needs.

There have been times when I’ve actually been told, “You’re just a bus driver,” but now we have a superintendent who values the input of all school employees. So, after an hour of brainstorming, our group of transportation and cafeteria workers suggested a solution to how we could keep feeding kids while schools are closed. And the superintendent listened. Now, in addition to working my full-time job as a rancher raising pigs, cows and horses, I work with a group of about 20 school bus drivers to deliver some 1,000 meals every day to kids all around the little town of Grants. The school district also has set up eight meal distribution sites at schools where students can come and pick up food.

But for kids and families who can’t get to the schools, we load up our buses at about 10:30 every morning, and we drive our normal route; instead of picking up kids, we drop off food.

We hand out meals to any kid who shows up at the bus stop — whether they’re registered in our school district or not. If you’re 18 or under and you’re at the bus stop, you’re going to get a meal. Some of the kids we see come from outside the area, and some live on the surrounding reservation, but it doesn’t matter: we’re feeding anyone who needs it.

Preparing and getting all these meals out is such a huge undertaking, especially since our numbers are not at full capacity. We are giving out grab-and-go bags with both breakfast and lunch — at the sites and on the bus routes, so that means our cafeteria workers are preparing a lot more meals all at once than they normally do. I am so impressed with how our district is stepping up to ensure that children get food while schools are closed — our school employees are true warriors!

In our district, we are lucky that most school employees will continue to get paid during the shutdown; so, working at the meal sites and driving our routes to deliver food is strictly optional. It’s just one of the many ways we are making the community our responsibility during this difficult time. Those of us who do opt to help out are receiving some additional compensation.

I’m amazed at how our whole school family — from custodians to secretaries, principals, teachers, food service and transportation workers, and everybody else — is coming together to get through this.

I’m really impressed with how our governor has handled this. She took the bold step to close our schools to keep people in our state safe — in spite of quite a bit of political opposition to her decision. That’s why elections are so important to every single part of our lives. We need more elected leaders who will stand up — not just for our public schools but for the most vulnerable people around us. It took integrity and courage for Lujan Grisham to announce on March 13 that schools around the state would be closed, at a time when so many of us knew so little about the coronavirus.

Even now, there are a lot of things that are uncertain, but all I know is that we’re in this together. From grocery store workers to medical workers to school employees, we are all working together to overcome this physical distance and support each other to make sure that basic needs are being met. I was born and raised here in Grants, and we’ve always had a sense of real community here. That’s how I know we’re going to be OK.

Tia Harris is the president of the Cibola County Federation of United School Employees, AFT Local 2153, in Grants, N.M., and a 19-year veteran school bus driver.