Flu fears close schools across state

Middletown (WTNH) -
Schools across the state are taking measures in the best interest of their students, whether it be canceling school or setting up vaccination clinics, to prevent the spread of the H1N1 flu.

Keigwin Middle School in Middletown is shutting its doors and keeping students home for the rest of the week after 34 percent of its student body called out Monday.

School officials say students started calling out sick after a school dance that was held on Friday.

"This morning I saw this jump," said Health Director Dr. Joe Havlicek. "When I first called it was 125 [people] and when I called again it was 135. And when I called again it was 145. That is 40 percent at that school."

Once the school nurse said she was feeling ill, the school decided it was time to close its doors.

"We got a call from the school nurse saying she was running a fever. We put our plan into motion from there," said Middletown parent Salvatore Nesci.

The same thing happened at Guilford High School last week. After a homecoming dance students started coming down with H1N1, and by the end of the week the school had been closed for cleaning. 42 percent of its students called out sick.

"Our teachers will be off, our students will be off," Guilford Superintendent of Schools Dr. Thomas Forcella said. Guilford High School will re-open on Wednesday.

At the Brownstone Intermediate School in Portland, a close eye is being kept on the student body with absences on the rise.

"At the local level, we have not established a certain number or percentage of absences that would automatically trigger a school closing," said Superintendent of Portland Schools Sally Doyen. "Rather, we will evaluate every situation independently."

In Branford, approximately 26 percents of the students at Walsh Intermediate School were either absent or were sent home ill Monday. Absences were higher than normal at the other schools in Branford.

"We will continue to monitor this situation very closely and will review absences of students and staff tomorrow morning," said Superintendent of Branford Schools Dr. Kathleen Halligan.

In Glastonbury, a statement was released to parents Monday, asking to keep sick students home. Part of the statement said, "Last week, we saw increasing numbers of students at Buttonball Lane School absent with fevers, one of the first signs of the H1N1 virus. Today, we are seeing a greater number of students at Smith Middle School absent with fevers and other symptoms of the flu."

Over in Woodbridge, at Amity High School, pro-active measures are being taken to help make this H1N1 outbreak a little easier. Students, who stay home, can still access their assignments online.

The superintendent is making it necessary for teachers to take advantage of a program called Moodle. If junior and senior students miss an extended period of school, they can they can log-in to this program and not miss any valuable work time.

"We are making it mandatory in response to the pandemic flu virus seems to be very contagious and we are concerned a lot of our students will not be in school and we don't want them to fall behind in their studies," said Superintendent of Schools Dr. John J. Brady.

Junior and senior students at Amity will also have a late start this Wednesday and Thursday morning so teachers can be trained on how to use the academic site. Then they will show their students how to access it.

Amity is also offering a free vaccination clinic for students, who have permission from their parents, who want a flu shot.

Meanwhile, classes will resume at Keigwin Middle School on Monday, November 2nd. There is no word yet if other schools in Middletown will close.