Principal Julie Ballard is not used to the silence on her elementary school campus.

By 10 a.m. on a normal Monday, Tavan Elementary School in the Arcadia neighborhood of Phoenix is usually swarmed with 700 kids, in kindergarten through fifth grade.

But this Monday, the campus is empty except for Ballard and two other school employees, standing at the curb where parents usually drop off their children. Instead of welcoming kids, Ballard and the women wait next to two bright red coolers filled with breakfasts and lunches.

"I'm worried about the kids," Ballard said. "We want them to be educated. We also want them to be safe."

Ballard cheerily waves hello at cars packed with kids and family members. One mom sitting in the driver's seat asks for meals for four kids in the car. The women count out eight bags: Four for breakfast and four for lunch.

They explain that the meals should be refrigerated. They tell her they'll be at Tavan handing out food every weekday morning from 9:30 to 11 a.m.

"Tell everyone to come," Ballard tells one family, hoping more will show up as the days pass.

Larger school districts in Maricopa County have begun to provide meals while closed due to the new coronavirus.

A new way to serve food

Gov. Doug Ducey and Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman ordered all of the state's schools to close until at least March 27. The order asked administrators to plan to serve meals during the closure to kids experiencing food insecurity.

The Arizona Department of Education has secured a waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture so schools can begin serving school breakfasts and lunches as they do in the summer. That program provides funding for schools in low-income areas to serve meals and snacks to anyone age 18 or younger.

While schools similarly served meals while closed during the week-long #RedForEd walkout in 2018, the fear of coronavirus' spread complicates the process. Schools are trying to find ways to serve meals while limiting contact.

For Scottsdale Unified School District, the answer is grab-and-go meals delivered straight to the car.

The women handing off the meals wear gloves. There is a bottle of hand sanitizer waiting on the cart with the coolers to use as needed.

Breakfast bags at Tavan include a bowl of cereal, milk and an apple. Lunch bags have an apple, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, string cheese and fruit.

Another women in a car tells Ballard she knows of a family without transportation. She asks if it's OK if she drops meals off to them. While the school prefers kids to be in the car, Ballard says that's fine.

"We have enough food for everyone," she said.

Reach the reporter at Lily.Altavena@ArizonaRepublic.com or follow her on Twitter @LilyAlta.

Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today.