Classes continue at Central York, despite swine flu rumor

[Pathfinder]

Classes continue at Central, despite swine flu rumor

ANDREW SHAW -- The York Dispatch
Updated: 10/13/2009 04:30:47 PM EDT


Central York School District is not planning on closing any schools because of swine flu concerns, despite rumors heard around the community and the attempts of cunning high schoolers.

Central spokeswoman Julie Romig told parents not to believe a rumor Central York High School would soon be closed because of an increase in students with flu-like illnesses.

As it turns out, there really has been an increase in absences, but there are no plans to close the high school or the middle school, following a recommendation by the York County Health Department.

Romig said the high school had a 23 percent absence rate on Tuesday, and the middle school was at 19 percent, both about triple the usual rate. Many parents had called in to say their child was missing school because of flu-like symptoms, Romig said, although there has been no confirmed case of swine flu.

The absence rate is somewhat misleading, though. Recently, administrators learned there was a not-so-secret plan by some high school students to get lots of students to miss school on purpose, thus increasing the absence rate and forcing the school to close out of H1N1 concerns, Romig said.

"Students were saying school was going to be canceled," Romig said.

So the rumor mill, spurred by mischievous students and compounded by many students actually sick with the flu, caused parents to worry schools would be closed, Romig said.

While the absence rate has been unusually high, she said, the health department decided to recommend the district continue with its usual preventative measures.

Central is also one of many districts participating in an upcoming H1N1 vaccination program.

In the spring, federal health officials were recommending school closure if absenteeism went above 10 percent, but now, with a better understanding of the virus, there is no specific percentage a school must reach. It's now a case-by-case basis, Romig said.

http://yorkdispatch.inyork.com/yd/local/ci_13551985

[Pathfinder]

Re: Classes continue at Central York, despite swine flu rumor

Central York: Students made effort to spike absenteeism
The absentee rate was up at Central York, sparking flu concerns.

By ANGIE MASON
Updated: 10/14/2009 10:36:08 AM EDT


The absentee rate was up Tuesday in the Central York School District, but a concerted student effort to try to close schools might have contributed to the spike.
The district fielded a number of calls Monday from parents concerned about rumors that the schools would be closed because of a high rate of the flu, said Julie Randall Romig, district spokeswoman. The concerns prompted the posting of a statement on the district's Web site to quash the rumor.

Absentee rates were high Tuesday, Randall Romig said. But the district also learned that some high-school students wanted it that way.

"Over the weekend, a lot of our students at the high school started this initiative, for lack of a better word, to force a school closing," she said. "They believed that if the rate of absenteeism reached a certain percentage due to flu . . . it would force the high school to close."

? A York County teen reacts to the news on the Teen Takeover blog.

Some students talked about the plans on Facebook, she said, and the district has "fantastic parents" who call when something is up.

Typically, the district has an absentee rate of about 4 to 7 percent, she said. On Tuesday, the high school rate was about 23 percent and the middle school rate was nearly 20 percent.

The spike was reported to the county office of the state health department, as is recommended, Randall Romig said. The office advised the district that closing or canceling events was unnecessary.

The district isn't invalidating anyone who reports flu-like symptoms, Randall-Romig said.

There have been a lot of students reporting such symptoms or visits to the doctor, she said, plus the absentee rate was up at the middle school, where there was no effort by students.

"There are a lot of students at the high school and other buildings who are legitimately sick," she said. "It's hard to know . . . how inflated that percentage is. We have to err on the side of caution."

Several other school districts said they, too, are monitoring attendance rates and haven't noticed anything unusual.

Dover Area Superintendent Robert Krantz said that, on Tuesday, elementary rates were about normal, though some classrooms had high rates last week, he said.

The high school and intermediate schools were running a little high, at 8 percent and 12 percent, respectively, Krantz said. But officials can't know if that's because of illness or if some people decided to extend the three-day weekend a little longer.

"It's not terrible," he said of the absentee rate. "In the same token, you worry about that."

Emilie Lonardi, superintendent of the West York Area School District, said absentee rates, from about 2 percent at the elementary level to 6 percent at the middle school, have been pretty good.

"We're watching them carefully to see if they spike at all," she said. "Who knows what tomorrow or the next day will bring."

http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_13551131

[sharon sanders]

Re: Classes continue at Central York, despite swine flu rumor

We received an email from a resident of the area that says there is quite a controversy over this article there.

[Pathfinder]

Re: Classes continue at Central York, despite swine flu rumor

Central: Student absences linked to flu, not cutting class

By NICHOLE DOBO
Daily Record/Sunday News
Updated: 10/14/2009 07:26:55 PM EDT


There is no way to tell whether any Central York School District students skipped school Tuesday in a reported scheme to close the high school, the district said.
There's also no way to tell if the scheme -- noticed by parents and district officials online and in text messages -- was just a prank.

The district announced a spike in absences Tuesday. The district also said that some students had encouraged classmates to stay home because a high absentee rate might cause the school to close.

Julie Randall Romig, district spokeswoman, said Wednesday that the district had not meant to infer that the students who were out sick were faking it. The district had said the two might be connected.

"I really want parents and guardians to know we were not questioning the truthfulness of parents keeping their children home," she said.

On Tuesday absentee rates were about 20 percent at the high school and 23 percent at the middle school. A typical day is about 4 to 7 percent, Romig district said.

The district believes most of them are ill, Romig said. The number of students who were out sick Wednesday remained about the same as Tuesday, with a slight increase in the middle school numbers, she said.

Over the weekend, some students used text messages and social networking Web sites to urge fellow classmates to skip school so that classes would be canceled, Romig said.

When word of that effort got around, parents called the district, wanting to know if school was canceled, Romig said. She told them classes were not canceled and there wasn't a high rate of students out sick, which was true at the time.
However, when high school attendance sheets began coming in early Tuesday, the district noticed an exceptional number of students who were absent, Romig said. There wasn't an immediate way to tell if it was linked to illness or to the student effort that urged students to stay home, Romig said.

The district said it believes most of the students were sick based on parents reporting children with flu-like symptoms, Romig said.

Anecdotally, building principals said the number of teachers out sick seemed higher so far this week, Romig said. It's not clear yet how much the teacher and staff absentee rate is due to illness, Romig said. Not every teacher is out sick, she said. Some might be out at educational conferences, for example.

The state Department of Health has recommended that Central York schools remain open for the time being, Romig said. Each day the district will consult with the department of health, she said.

Doctors are urging parents to keep children home who are showing signs of illness because it helps prevent others from catching it. Those who are sick with an illness like the flu should go to their primary care physician, not the hospital emergency room, said Barry Sparks, a spokesman for WellSpan Health.

WellSpan Health has been tracking the number of flu cases seen at its primary care facilities, and the number peaked last week, Sparks said. It's not a complete picture of what's going on in York County, but it does provide a snapshot of what's going on at a large number of doctor's offices. WellSpan recorded about 400 cases in a day last week, up an average of about 300 a day, he said.

Mimi Ashbaugh, a parent of two Central York students, said she believes the flu probably spread this weekend during homecoming festivities. Her son, who is in the 10th grade, got sick Monday evening, she said. His doctor prescribed Tamiflu, antiviral medication, and he seems to be recovering slowly, she said.

Ashbaugh said she doesn't doubt that a few students might hatch an idea to fake illnesses -- indeed, she saw a student text message about it. She just didn't like the idea of anyone jumping to the conclusion that students who aren't in school right now are cutting class to get the schools shut down.

"It's just upsetting to see that as a parent when you have a child who is truly sick," she said.

AT A GLANCE

Student absenteeism increased dramatically Tuesday at the Central York School District's high school and middle school.

Schools nationwide have closed in response to large H1N1 outbreaks. In York County, city schools closed last school year in response to high flu levels.

Central York has been in contact with the state Department of Health, and was advised to keep schools open.

The number of students out sick Wednesday at the middle school increased slightly, but the level at the high school is about the same as it was Tuesday, said Julie Randall Romig, a district spokeswoman.

The district is taking a number of steps to prevent the spread of the flu, Romig said. Details are available online at www.cysd.k12.pa.us.

In addition, the district is participating in a York and Adams county effort to vaccinate children against the swine flu for free. Parental consent forms, also available on the district Web site, are due Oct. 16.

http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_13561883

[Pathfinder]

Re: Classes continue at Central York, despite swine flu rumor

Apparently, we all planned to get sick

Morgen Snowadzky

on <ABBR class=published title=2009-10-13T21:14:06-05:00>October 13, 2009 9:14 PM


Half empty classrooms, the sound of coughing fills each room, and hushed talk of who'll be the next to have swine flu; these are the things that my day contained.

I must be oblivious, because I didn't have any friends who skipped school because they wanted to close it for a week. Would you like to know why? Because none of us were naive enough to think that was true, and none of us wanted to come back for a week in the summer. I had ten people in my English class today, in a class which usually has 18 people. The field hockey team had to cancel a game because half of them were sick. Do we see a pattern? Central York has a flu problem.


I personally am one of the lucky few who are avoiding catching the flu from those who come to school sick. People who come to school functions sick, such as homecoming, are the reason nearly 25 percent of my classmates were absent today. Contrary what the school district told reporters, this had nothing to do with some freshman trying to get people to skip school.

So Central students, drink your orange juice, cover your cough, and avoid sick friends; but don't worry we don't have a flu outbreak. Apparently, we all had planned to get the flu so we could come back for a week of school over the summer.

http://www.yorkblog.com/teentakeover/2009/10/apparently-we-all-planned-to-g.html

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