Swine Flu Fear Closes Entire District
By AMANDA RAUS
Updated 6:37 AM EST, Wed, Oct 28, 2009
Sickness is spreading through Connecticut schools and an entire district will be closed for the rest of the week.
Region 10, which includes Harwinton and Burlington, is closing all four schools Wednesday.
“Friday we began seeing numbers, 12, 13, 14 percent across the district. Monday, those numbers rose to 22, 23 percent, and today the first thing in the morning, we were sending kids home as fast as they were coming off the school bus,” Supt. Alan Beitman said.
The district is just the latest in a growing number of schools to close because of illness, specifically swine flu scares.
The district includes Lake Garda, the Harwinton Consolidated School, where 25 percent of students were out, Har-Bur Middle School, where 30 percent of students are out, and Lewis Mills High School, where 6 percent of students were out.
School officials want to break the cycle of sick students.
“The best way to break that cycle is to make sure the students are away from each other for five days. If you can get a five-day break, then you got a good chance of changing the cycle,” Beitman said.
Most parents and students are glad to see the superintendent taking action. They’ve seen first hand just how many students this is affecting.
“I’ve been in the nurses office for the past week and a half, so I’ve noticed that a lot of people have been going in and coming out really sick,” said Kelsey Gardiner, a student at Lewis Mills High School.
“I thought it was great they were going to do it because everyone’s really sick, so it’s great that they’re going to do it, and hopefully we’ll get rid of everything that’s in the system,” her mother, Diane Gardiner, said.
The students will have to make up these days sometime during the school year, something that concerns students.
“I’d rather spend more time doing school now during winter and spring than in the summer, so I was a little upset to hear about that,” Katie Jozwik, a Lewis Mills High School student, said.
Region 10 schools will reopen on Monday, Nov. 2.
Keigwin Middle School, in Middletown, will also be closed for the rest of the week after 145 students, or 40 percent school population, called in sick on Monday. The boost in cases came on suddenly and might be linked to a school dance held Friday.
Guilford High School had a similar situation after a dance held there. Guilford High School should resume classes on Wednesday.
Avon and Glastonbury are also monitoring the situation closely to see if they need to close any schools.
First Published: Oct 27, 2009 1:09 PM EST
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