Home / News / Local / Education

Flu report to homerooms

By OMAR RICARDO AQUIJE oaquije@poststar.com | Posted: Wednesday, October 28, 2009 10:40 pm | (2) Comments

Font Size:: Default font size; Larger font size

Erin Reid Coker Erin Reid Coker - coker@poststar.com Five junior kindergarten students at Queensbury Elementary School participate in classroom activities on Wednesday October 28, 2009. The class usually has twelve students but was down to five on Wednesday due to illness.

Local school officials are seeing an increase in the number of absent students - in some schools, to more than double the typical number.

Many of the students staying home are suffering from flulike symptoms, while others are being sent home for the same reason. A few schools have reported confirmed cases of the H1N1 flu virus.

The student absences began rising a week or two ago, school officials reported, although they said the schools are not experiencing a corresponding rise in the number of absent teachers.

"I think, within the last week, we have seen an increase in the number of students who have complaints of headaches, sore throats, fever, and we have seen an increase in absences as well," said Barbara Coats, a nurse at Queensbury Elementary School.

On a typical day, the elementary school has about 50 students absent. On Monday, about 135 were out. The elementary school has 1,100 students, said Superintendent Douglas Huntley.

Across the 3,800-student Queensbury district, 374 students were absent Monday, almost 10 percent. About 140 absences (3.7 percent) is a normal total for a school day at Queensbury.

The effect has been noticeable in some classrooms. On Wednesday, a junior kindergarten class of 12 had only five students, said Patrick Pomerville, principal at Queensbury Elementary School.

In Fort Edward, about 100 out of the district's 550 students, or 18 percent of total enrollment, were absent on Oct. 14. And more students were sent home with flulike symptoms.

As a result, school officials sent a letter to parents telling them of the widespread absences and giving tips on preventing the spread of germs.

"Anytime you have that number of kids out, it causes you some concern," said Jeff Ziegler, Fort Edward superintendent.

In Hadley-Luzerne, about 12 percent of the 935 students were absent Monday.

In Warrensburg, the district had 160 students absent for at least two days. District enrollment is 850.

On Friday, Salem schools had 67 students absent, about 11 percent of the district's enrollment of 620.

"It is higher than it would normally be at this time," said Charles Kremer, Salem's superintendent.

While school officials are worried about all the absences, they are not surprised by it.

Officials said they were told by government agencies to expect more students to miss school time.

School officials also believe parents are being more careful, keeping their children home when they show any flu symptoms.

In addition, nurses have been more likely to send children home this year than in the past, officials said.

In recent weeks, school officials have begun asking parents to keep their children home until they have recovered from the flu.

The increase in absences has not forced local schools to close or make big changes to their cleaning practices. Many schools put more emphasis on disinfecting buildings and promoting frequent hand washing in 2007, when some students developed MRSA, a drug-resistant staph infection.

The rise in absences has presented educators with another problem. Students who miss too many days of school can fall behind.

"The disruptions right now are pretty significant, to both the educator and the student," said Stephen Danna, the principal at the Hadley-Luzerne K-2 school. "When your child misses two, three or four days of class, the student falls behind."

Teachers are working to make sure students keep up. Homework is being posted on districts' Web sites. Some parents are picking up homework at the school.

In the meantime, school officials are monitoring attendance, which could continue to drop as the area progresses into the heart of the flu season.

"What I'm concerned about is the number of students who are absent, because it is significantly higher than it is supposed to be, and what is going to happen when the flu season is here?" said Huntley.

Posted in Education, Local, H1n1 on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 10:40 pm Updated: 3:00 pm. | Tags: Education, Schools, H1n1,

Print Email