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Absenteeism forces Wisconsin Dells to close five schools until Monday
By PATRICIA SIMMS and GAYLE WORLAND| Wisconsin State Journal | Posted: Wednesday, October 7, 2009 7:50 am | No Comments Posted
WISCONSIN DELLS - Absenteeism from influenza-like illness Tuesday forced officials in the Wisconsin Dells School District to close its five schools until Monday.
Wisconsin Dells High School principal Randy Kuhnau said that 160 of the school's 585 students were absent Monday with flu-like symptoms. By Tuesday, that number had risen to 200. Districtwide, 12 staff members called in sick on Tuesday, up from eight on Monday.
"We've been sending newsletters and phone messages home as late as yesterday telling kids, reminding parents, 'Don't come to school if you have these types of symptoms,'" Kuhnau said. "Still, kids want to come to school for an important test, that kind of thing. The 400 kids left in our building were disappointed that we were canceling school - which is a good thing."
Seth Boffeli, spokesman for the state Department of Health Services, said Tuesday Wisconsin Dells is the first school or district in the state to close this fall because of the flu.
Freddi Adelson, health services coordinator for the Madison School District, told the Madison School Board on Monday that the district is monitoring school attendance, but has not seen a spike in absences.
Boffeli said more than 30 schools closed last spring, when swine flu first struck and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said multiple cases of that virus should lead to school closures. The CDC later relaxed its guidelines, saying schools should consider closing when illness is widespread.
Kuhnau, who admitted to having a scratchy throat, said he'd been a principal for 23 years. "This is uncharted territory," he said "I'm surprised - and I think everyone close to this is surprised - by how early this happened. We were told to look at the middle of December for potential school closings, but I don't think anybody thought that it would be in October that we were in this type of a situation."
The state Department of Public Instruction was not involved in the decision to close the schools, said DPI spokesman Patrick Gasper. DPI has told districts to follow the CDC guidelines for school closures.
When school closures are ordered by a local or state health officer, "those days do not have to be made up," said Gasper. "Their hours of instruction, however, will have to be made up. They can request a waiver from the department, but we're early enough in the school year that they can make a calculation and make up those hours."
Columbia County Health and Human Services Director Erik Pritzl said there is no magic absentee number at which schools are closed. "We are looking for trends and patterns," Pritzl said. "It's more a matter of surveillance and reporting and seeing what that trend is."
All school activities and public gatherings in all schools were canceled until further notice. That includes all practices, contests and field trips, Wisconsin Dells School District officials said.
Parent-teacher conferences that were scheduled for the remaining days of this week will be rescheduled. School offices will remain open, if there are sufficient healthy personnel to keep them open and healthy teachers may work in their classrooms during this closure.
The closing includes: Neenah Creek Elementary School; Spring Hill Elementary School; Spring Hill Middle School; Wisconsin Dells High School; and Lake Delton Elementary School.
State Journal reporter David Wahlberg and Anna Krejci of Dells Events contributed to this story.
Absenteeism forces Wisconsin Dells to close five schools until Monday
By PATRICIA SIMMS and GAYLE WORLAND| Wisconsin State Journal | Posted: Wednesday, October 7, 2009 7:50 am | No Comments Posted
WISCONSIN DELLS - Absenteeism from influenza-like illness Tuesday forced officials in the Wisconsin Dells School District to close its five schools until Monday.
Wisconsin Dells High School principal Randy Kuhnau said that 160 of the school's 585 students were absent Monday with flu-like symptoms. By Tuesday, that number had risen to 200. Districtwide, 12 staff members called in sick on Tuesday, up from eight on Monday.
"We've been sending newsletters and phone messages home as late as yesterday telling kids, reminding parents, 'Don't come to school if you have these types of symptoms,'" Kuhnau said. "Still, kids want to come to school for an important test, that kind of thing. The 400 kids left in our building were disappointed that we were canceling school - which is a good thing."
Seth Boffeli, spokesman for the state Department of Health Services, said Tuesday Wisconsin Dells is the first school or district in the state to close this fall because of the flu.
Freddi Adelson, health services coordinator for the Madison School District, told the Madison School Board on Monday that the district is monitoring school attendance, but has not seen a spike in absences.
Boffeli said more than 30 schools closed last spring, when swine flu first struck and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said multiple cases of that virus should lead to school closures. The CDC later relaxed its guidelines, saying schools should consider closing when illness is widespread.
Kuhnau, who admitted to having a scratchy throat, said he'd been a principal for 23 years. "This is uncharted territory," he said "I'm surprised - and I think everyone close to this is surprised - by how early this happened. We were told to look at the middle of December for potential school closings, but I don't think anybody thought that it would be in October that we were in this type of a situation."
The state Department of Public Instruction was not involved in the decision to close the schools, said DPI spokesman Patrick Gasper. DPI has told districts to follow the CDC guidelines for school closures.
When school closures are ordered by a local or state health officer, "those days do not have to be made up," said Gasper. "Their hours of instruction, however, will have to be made up. They can request a waiver from the department, but we're early enough in the school year that they can make a calculation and make up those hours."
Columbia County Health and Human Services Director Erik Pritzl said there is no magic absentee number at which schools are closed. "We are looking for trends and patterns," Pritzl said. "It's more a matter of surveillance and reporting and seeing what that trend is."
All school activities and public gatherings in all schools were canceled until further notice. That includes all practices, contests and field trips, Wisconsin Dells School District officials said.
Parent-teacher conferences that were scheduled for the remaining days of this week will be rescheduled. School offices will remain open, if there are sufficient healthy personnel to keep them open and healthy teachers may work in their classrooms during this closure.
The closing includes: Neenah Creek Elementary School; Spring Hill Elementary School; Spring Hill Middle School; Wisconsin Dells High School; and Lake Delton Elementary School.
State Journal reporter David Wahlberg and Anna Krejci of Dells Events contributed to this story.