Jefferson County Schools will no longer be serving meals to students starting Friday, citing safety concerns stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, Superintendent Walter Gonsoulin told AL.com Thursday night.

“It was a hard decision. The difficult part is that we knew we were providing something vital for our community," the superintendent said.

The two-day-a-week meal service at six county school sites started last week, and 24,000 students were served, Gonsoulin said.

Today is the day! We are getting the meals prepped to give out to anyone 18 years or younger!



School Distribution Sites/Info - https://t.co/LFHVHpIz7S



Extended Distribution Sites - https://t.co/ci3CBtPRAH pic.twitter.com/9yqhcjP4cl — Jefferson County Schools (@JEFCOED) March 24, 2020

But safety has been an issue in delivering the meals and social distancing measures have been difficult to implement, according to Gonsoulin. Parents were notified about the decision by phone and email.

“When teachers see their children, you know the first thing they do? They hug them. We can’t blame them (for hugging), but it’s also subjecting all of them to risk," he said.

About half of Jefferson County’s 36,000 students are eligible for free or reduced-priced meals. The decision to stop service only impacts the six sites where the school district has been delivering lunches and does not affect nonprofit efforts to feed county schoolchildren like Neighbors for Nutrition.

Gonsoulin said the district will help parents find resources to help feed their children.

He said the district had not planned to continue serving meals at the school sites through the end of the school year. Teaching and learning starts Monday, and will be a combination of distance learning and instructional packets. How those packets will be distributed and collected remains a concern, but that’s their plan for now.

“Our first priority is to keep everybody safe at a time like this," the superintendent said.

The school district’s decision came the same day Demopolis City Schools said it was also stopping their meals to students starting Friday: