Schools in two towns closed over H1N1

Middletown (WTNH) - School administrators across the state will be monitoring their absentee list as a wave of H1N1 flu cases force some schools to close their doors.

Keigwin Middle School in Middletown and Guilford High School will be closed Tuesday. Other schools are seeing higher than usual absentee rates.

Middletown school officials decided to close Keigwin Middle School for the week after 34 percent of the student body called out Monday. "When I first called it was 125 (people) and when I called again it was 135," said Health Director Dr. Joe Havlicek. "And when I called again it was 145. That is 40 percent at that school."

Students started calling out sick after a school dance that was held the previous Friday, school officials said.

The same thing happened at Guilford High School last week. After a homecoming dance students started coming down with H1N1. The school was closed Monday and will be closed again today.

Other towns are seeing high absentee rates, but have not closed schools.

In Branford, approximately 26 percent of students at Walsh Intermediate School were either absent or were sent home ill Monday. "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.

The situation is similar at the Brownstone Intermediate School in Portland. "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 Glastonbury, school officials told parents they are seeing a greater number of students at Smith Middle School absent with fevers and other symptoms of the flu.