School hit with unprecedented illness, 150 stay home sick

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(Note: Oregon City is on outskirts of Portland, Oregon's largest city)

http://www.katu.com/news/local/63738137.html

School hit with unprecedented illness, 150 stay home sick

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http://www.katu.com/news/local/63720837.htm

* Most children won?t be tested for H1N1, doctors say

Story Published: Oct 7, 2009 at 11:55 PM PDT

Story Updated: Oct 8, 2009 at 12:27 AM PDT
By Margy Lynch KATU News and KATU.com Staff
Video

OREGON CITY, Ore. ? About 150 students were home sick from Gardiner Middle School this week, nearly 30 percent of its student population.

The school district has been trying to get answers from the health department to determine whether the cases are the H1N1 Swine Flu, but testing is not necessarily being done to confirm if the cases are the virus. The district said, however, the school will be open for business Thursday.

Custodians have been trying to help kids stay in class by combating the flu invasion with disinfectant on doorknobs and surfaces. But starting last week, sick kids kept multiplying, so the school contacted the health department.

?Pretty much what we?ve been told is that students, if they have the flu right now, you probably can expect that it?s H1N1,? said Gardiner?s principal, Chris Mills. He said some parents have reported confirmed cases of H1N1, and he said the school is following health department protocols closely.

Mills is aware that some kids are falling behind in their schoolwork, and parents are trying to keep things in perspective.

?Kids are going to get sick regardless of if they?re at school, home, daycare, or wherever else,? Stephanie Riley said.

For Riley it?s all about hand sanitizer. ?We have tons of bottles of that,? she said.

School administrators and staff said they?ll do what they can to keep kids healthy.

Mills said Oregon City School District Superintendent Roger Rada has been talking with other districts and said Gardiner is not the only school with high absentee numbers.

 

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Re: School hit with unprecedented illness, 150 stay home sick

Schools see rise in absenteeism

From Staff Reports
Tuesday, October 13, 2009 | No comments posted.

Cover that cough. Wash those hands.

That?s the advice of teachers and administrators in Bay Area schools who are keeping doors open despite high absentee rates. North Bend schools have been hit hardest, though Coos Bay teachers also noticed fewer students in their classrooms Monday.

Principal Ralph Brooks reported 258 students were absent Monday from North Bend Middle School, which carries a student body of 573.

?We?re trying very hard to stay ahead of it, but at the middle school today, we had a lot of kids absent,? said Superintendent BJ Hollensteiner at a Monday meeting.

Hillcrest Elementary also had its own share of absentees, with about 115 sick children out of 575, reported Principal Bruce Martin.

Martin and Brooks said sick kids? parents reported influenza-like illnesses.

Absences are not as widespread among students in the Coos Bay School District. There were 80 students absent Monday at Sunset Middle School, where the student body is 450, a secretary said. And there was a similar number of absences at Millicoma Intermediate School, though in both cases not all those absences were due to illness.

Teacher absences at the two schools have been minimal, secretaries said.

Angie Webster, one of two Coos Bay district nurses, said the number of absences are in line with a normal flu season.

Hollensteiner said there are hand sanitizers available in classrooms, cafeterias and bathrooms for students to use at the schools. Disinfectant wipes have also been passed out to use on doorknobs and the like.

The North Bend superintendent said classes will continue as usual unless too many teachers call in sick. She explained that if there aren?t enough substitute teachers to fill those positions, schools could close.

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