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<!-- Page Primary: main content, basically everything but the right sidebar --> Schools close amid flu fears; entire district gets week off
Published: Wednesday, October 28, 2009v
The Region 10 school district of Harwinton and Burlington is closed today through Friday, due to an outbreak of a flu virus that kept more than 20 percent of students home Monday and Tuesday.
Superintendent Alan Beitman said he conferred with area health officials and a myriad of other people before deciding to cancel school in response to many students being sick with the virus. More Region 10 students missed class in recent days, the majority because they are sick with the flu.
?These kids are running fevers of 101 degrees. Even the kids who came to class today looked sick,? Beitman said. ?The kids who came to class today had droopy eyes and were drowsy. They were not faking it.?
Besides the students ailed by a flu virus, some students showed signs of bronchitis and pneumonia, Beitman said. After Americans became sick with the H1N1 virus in the spring, some Connecticut school districts addressed how they will deal with the arrival of contagious ailments in their districts such that many students.
About 12 percent of students missed school on Friday, 22 percent of students missed school on Monday, and 27 percent of students missed school on Tuesday, Beitman said. With a long-term absentee rate of two to three percent per day, Beitman said he becomes alarmed when more than five percent of students stay home from school on any given day.
More than 2,800 students attend Lewis S. Mills High School, Har-Bur Middle School, Lake Garda School and Harwinton Consolidated School.
?This is spiraling too fast. We want to stop it from spreading further,? Beitman said. ?We hope that keeping students away from each other for at least five days will stop the flu virus from spreading.? :applause:
Region 10 is also cancelling athletic and extracurricular activities through Friday. Lewis Mills cross-country runners who earned a spot to compete in a state championship meet in Manchester will compete as scheduled. As of now, the district is scheduled to reopen for classes on Monday, Nov. 2.
?We?ll re-evaluate this upcoming weekend,? Beitman said. One staff member at Har-Bur Middle School and one student from Har-Bur have the H1N1 virus. ?We care about the health of our students.?
Most faculty members are not catching the virus, he said. Health officials advise parents to keep ill students home until 24 hours after symptoms have gone away without fever-reducing medication and to contact their medical providers with any questions or concerns.
Region 10 administrators will keep updating parents about their response to the outbreak at www.region10ct.orgin in ?Superintendent?s Corner? section.
The flu outbreak among students is not unique to Region 10. Guilford High School, Keigwin Middle School in Middletown, and St. John School in Middletown have closed in response to many students becoming ill with a flu virus within the past week.
?Other districts have rising rates of absenteeism but nothing that has risen to the level of having them close at this time,? Tom Murphy, spokesman for the Connecticut Department of Education, said.
http://www.registercitizen.com/articles/2009/10/28/news/doc4ae7beaad22e0042332278.txt
Published: Wednesday, October 28, 2009v
The Region 10 school district of Harwinton and Burlington is closed today through Friday, due to an outbreak of a flu virus that kept more than 20 percent of students home Monday and Tuesday.
Superintendent Alan Beitman said he conferred with area health officials and a myriad of other people before deciding to cancel school in response to many students being sick with the virus. More Region 10 students missed class in recent days, the majority because they are sick with the flu.
?These kids are running fevers of 101 degrees. Even the kids who came to class today looked sick,? Beitman said. ?The kids who came to class today had droopy eyes and were drowsy. They were not faking it.?
Besides the students ailed by a flu virus, some students showed signs of bronchitis and pneumonia, Beitman said. After Americans became sick with the H1N1 virus in the spring, some Connecticut school districts addressed how they will deal with the arrival of contagious ailments in their districts such that many students.
About 12 percent of students missed school on Friday, 22 percent of students missed school on Monday, and 27 percent of students missed school on Tuesday, Beitman said. With a long-term absentee rate of two to three percent per day, Beitman said he becomes alarmed when more than five percent of students stay home from school on any given day.
More than 2,800 students attend Lewis S. Mills High School, Har-Bur Middle School, Lake Garda School and Harwinton Consolidated School.
?This is spiraling too fast. We want to stop it from spreading further,? Beitman said. ?We hope that keeping students away from each other for at least five days will stop the flu virus from spreading.? :applause:
Region 10 is also cancelling athletic and extracurricular activities through Friday. Lewis Mills cross-country runners who earned a spot to compete in a state championship meet in Manchester will compete as scheduled. As of now, the district is scheduled to reopen for classes on Monday, Nov. 2.
?We?ll re-evaluate this upcoming weekend,? Beitman said. One staff member at Har-Bur Middle School and one student from Har-Bur have the H1N1 virus. ?We care about the health of our students.?
Most faculty members are not catching the virus, he said. Health officials advise parents to keep ill students home until 24 hours after symptoms have gone away without fever-reducing medication and to contact their medical providers with any questions or concerns.
Region 10 administrators will keep updating parents about their response to the outbreak at www.region10ct.orgin in ?Superintendent?s Corner? section.
The flu outbreak among students is not unique to Region 10. Guilford High School, Keigwin Middle School in Middletown, and St. John School in Middletown have closed in response to many students becoming ill with a flu virus within the past week.
?Other districts have rising rates of absenteeism but nothing that has risen to the level of having them close at this time,? Tom Murphy, spokesman for the Connecticut Department of Education, said.
http://www.registercitizen.com/articles/2009/10/28/news/doc4ae7beaad22e0042332278.txt