Rural schools hit by flu

By Joshua Clark
Staff Writer
Originally published Oct. 24, 2009

Students attending Taneyville and Bradleyville schools received an unexpected vacation this week as both rural schools were closed due to a rapid drop in attendance brought on by the flu. School was closed Wednesday through Friday.

“We’re planning on being back up and operational on Monday,” Taneyville Superintendent Tim Crawley said. “The catch 22 to the whole situation is that we never know what the wellness of the kids will be after the weekend.”

Currently, the schools are following the recommendation of health organizations, who say a five-day break should result in a clean bill of health. Also, school staff and employees began cleaning and sanitizing almost immediately.

“We started Tuesday evening and finished up Wednesday morning,” Crawley said. “The goal is to kill the virus as quickly as we can and then allow the disinfectant to have a residual effect.”

In addition to the initial school-wide cleaning, there are also daily cleanups as well.

“We just want to make sure everything is ready for the students to return,” Crawley said.

If attendance is still low when classes resume Monday, Crawley will consider adjusting the usual plan of action, he said.

“We are going to have to monitor the situation as it goes,” Crawley said.

“Once we get below 80 percent attendance, we usually call off school, but the reality is we can’t call off every day if we are below that number, so we may need to adust it.”

Crawley also said once the attendance dips below that 80 percent, they start contacting parents.

“We need to find out how many are sick and how many are going to a family reunion,” Crawley said. “This time of year we have some of that.”

Representatives from both schools have been in constant contact with Branson, Hollister, Forsyth and Mark Twain schools, keeping them abreast of their situation.

The Forsyth schools, which are located just down the road, haven’t seen as much of a dropoff in school attendance.

“The last few days of the week, we have been running about 92 percent,” Forsyth Superintendent Brent Blevins said. “We are usually around 95 percent, but given the amount of sickness out there, we are very comfortable with where we are at.”

As far as the missed days in Taneyville, Crawley said those days will have to be made up.

“According to the state, those days have to be made up,” Crawley said.

“We don’t know of any waiver yet that would allow us to write these days off.”

As of press time, it looks like the missed days will be made up on President’s Day, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and several days in March.

Most area schools are taking a pre-emptive approach to dealing with this years flu.

“We are trying to do everything we can to provide the safest and healthiest environment we can for these children,” Crawley said.

“We have hand sanitizers available in every classroom, and we are really concentrating on getting the kids to wash their hands as often as they can.”

Forsyth schools are also stressing the importance hand washing, as well as educating their students.

“In addition to the hand sanitizer all over the school, we are spraying down desks with a bacteria killer several times a day,” Blevins said. “And we are also spraying our bus seats with the spray every night.

“We are just trying to educate them on coughing and sneezing etiquette. We have done everything we know to do to educate our students and keep this from spreading.”

According to Jean Mueller with the Taney County Health Department, hand washing and education are only a few aspects of keeping the flu contained this winter.

“Obviously, washing your hands is one of the best defenses we have against spreading germs, but staying home from work, school or other outings is highly recommended,” Mueller said.

“It is a difficult decision to make, but unless we do that, it will only get worse.”

For additional information, visit taneycohealth.org.

H1N1 vaccine to be offered next week

The Taney County Health Department will be holding its first H1N1 public vaccination clinics Thursday at both the Branson and Forsyth locations from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. The clinics will be for children age 2-18; only nasal spray vaccine will be available. Appointments are required. Call the Branson office at 417-334-4544 or the Forsyth office at 417-546-4725 to schedule an appointment for the Oct. 29 clinic.