POTEAU (KFSM) -- Challenges persist in Oklahoma school districts as demonstrations continue at the State Capitol.
In our area, many parents depend on schools being opened for their kids to eat breakfast and lunch.
While many schools have opened for the sole purpose of feeding kids, many kids still have to figure out how to get there because school buses are not running.
This is the case for kids who go to Poteau Schools as many kids have to walk to Pansy Kidd Middle School and Poteau Primary Elementary Schools to get food.
Staff at the Boys and Girls Club of LeFlore County have opened their doors earlier because of the walkouts, and they walk kids over to Pansy Kidd Middle School to get meals.
However, there are some challenges with their two-block walk to and from the school, twice per day.
“When it has been cold or when it has been like Friday when it was raining, and they had to walk over for breakfast, they came back really cold and wet,” said Arielle Perry, CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of LeFlore County
In that instance, Perry says they didn’t have closet space available for the kids to change clothes, so the kids had to be wet from the rain until they dried off.
Also, now that the club is opened for longer hours, it’s using more electricity, power, toilet paper, and paper towels than they anticipated.
“Operational costs have kind of skyrocketed,” Perry said.
Despite these short-term challenges, many of the kids have a positive outlook and recognize these challenges will lead to a better outcome in the future.
“I think it’s good because we can get an upgrade on our books and our computers and on the schools,” said Macy Dennington.
On Wednesday (April 11), The Boys and Girls Club of LeFlore County will be hosting an open house from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. where they will accept monetary donations.