Waukesha middle school takes a sick day
By AMY HETZNER
ahetzner@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Mar. 9, 2006
Waukesha - Classes at one middle school have been cancelled today after an apparent flu outbreak kept nearly half of its students and almost a third of its staff at home Thursday.
School administrators said they decided to close Horning Middle School for the day, hoping to stop the spread of illness and sanitize the building.
The problem appears to be isolated to Horning, although one Cedarburg elementary school also has reported high numbers of students out with flu-like symptoms.
"We're taking precautions," Waukesha Superintendent David Schmidt said. "And, also, the continuity of instruction, when you only have half or less than half of your kids, is really tough."
Waukesha school officials started to take note of the flu-like problem, and its symptoms of coughing and sore throats, when about 130 students missed school on Wednesday. When the number of absent students hit 248 on Thursday, in addition to about 20 affected staff members, the district made the rare decision to close the school.
Harvey Stowe, Horning's longtime principal, said he had never seen so many students and staff gone at one time because of illness.
"We've warned them for the last few days to not share lip gloss and food, what have you, which is normal for this age," he said.
The added precautions weren't enough to stop the spread of infection, even to staff members such as Assistant Principal Mark Wegner, who was out sick Thursday.
So many teachers were gone because of sickness that the school could not find enough substitutes to fill in for them, forcing teachers to cover for their absent colleagues, Stowe said.
"I've been in Waukesha for 37 years and I don't remember that we've ever had a day like this," he said.
In Cedarburg, nearly 20% of the 300 students at Westlawn Elementary School were absent Thursday, Principal Paul Sanders said. A few were in Madison watching the Cedarburg High School girls basketball team play its first-ever state tournament game, but the vast majority were home sick, he said.
"We're hoping we can make it through one more day and the kids will get healthy over the weekend," Sanders said.
The flu problem did not appear to be widespread in Ozaukee County.
Nancy Healy-Haney, public health manager for Waukesha County, likewise said no Waukesha County schools other than Horning have reported high rates of student illnesses from flu so far this month.
Various upper-respiratory problems are common among children this time of year, she said.
"I would say that it's a good decision to close a school if illness does occur," Healy-Haney said. "I just think it's a very good judgment call on the school's part, on the superintendent's part."
Schmidt said he couldn't recall the district shutting another school for illness in recent years. Bethesda Elementary School was closed for two days following an E. coli outbreak in 2000, but that was a scheduled break for a teachers' convention.
Journal Sentinel reporter Tom Kertscher contributed to this report.
From the Mar. 10, 2006 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=407140
By AMY HETZNER
ahetzner@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Mar. 9, 2006
Waukesha - Classes at one middle school have been cancelled today after an apparent flu outbreak kept nearly half of its students and almost a third of its staff at home Thursday.
School administrators said they decided to close Horning Middle School for the day, hoping to stop the spread of illness and sanitize the building.
The problem appears to be isolated to Horning, although one Cedarburg elementary school also has reported high numbers of students out with flu-like symptoms.
"We're taking precautions," Waukesha Superintendent David Schmidt said. "And, also, the continuity of instruction, when you only have half or less than half of your kids, is really tough."
Waukesha school officials started to take note of the flu-like problem, and its symptoms of coughing and sore throats, when about 130 students missed school on Wednesday. When the number of absent students hit 248 on Thursday, in addition to about 20 affected staff members, the district made the rare decision to close the school.
Harvey Stowe, Horning's longtime principal, said he had never seen so many students and staff gone at one time because of illness.
"We've warned them for the last few days to not share lip gloss and food, what have you, which is normal for this age," he said.
The added precautions weren't enough to stop the spread of infection, even to staff members such as Assistant Principal Mark Wegner, who was out sick Thursday.
So many teachers were gone because of sickness that the school could not find enough substitutes to fill in for them, forcing teachers to cover for their absent colleagues, Stowe said.
"I've been in Waukesha for 37 years and I don't remember that we've ever had a day like this," he said.
In Cedarburg, nearly 20% of the 300 students at Westlawn Elementary School were absent Thursday, Principal Paul Sanders said. A few were in Madison watching the Cedarburg High School girls basketball team play its first-ever state tournament game, but the vast majority were home sick, he said.
"We're hoping we can make it through one more day and the kids will get healthy over the weekend," Sanders said.
The flu problem did not appear to be widespread in Ozaukee County.
Nancy Healy-Haney, public health manager for Waukesha County, likewise said no Waukesha County schools other than Horning have reported high rates of student illnesses from flu so far this month.
Various upper-respiratory problems are common among children this time of year, she said.
"I would say that it's a good decision to close a school if illness does occur," Healy-Haney said. "I just think it's a very good judgment call on the school's part, on the superintendent's part."
Schmidt said he couldn't recall the district shutting another school for illness in recent years. Bethesda Elementary School was closed for two days following an E. coli outbreak in 2000, but that was a scheduled break for a teachers' convention.
Journal Sentinel reporter Tom Kertscher contributed to this report.
From the Mar. 10, 2006 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=407140