Suspected swine flu cases close Grafton High School
By Michaela Stanelun and Elizabeth Cooney, Globe Correspondents
Grafton High School will be let out early today and remain closed on Monday and Tuesday after a high number of students and faculty came down with suspected cases of swine flu.
Superintendent Dr. Joseph F. Connors said that this week brought "five days of escalating absenteeism for staff, faculty, and students."
"We wanted to keep the building open as long as we could run a productive and safe school," Connors said.
Grafton is one of several school districts to contact the state Department of Public Health this week with concerns about high absenteeism rates, spokeswoman Jennifer Manley said this morning. The department offers advice but does not direct schools to close, consistent with guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued in the summer.
Before the school year began, Massachusetts health authorities recommended that schools close only as a last resort during flu season and instead focus on keeping sick students isolated at home. Grafton school and public health officials were in close contact with the state health department before today's action, Manley said.
"It is a decision that is made locally," she said.
At the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, a spokesman said he was aware of only Grafton's decision to close.
"We are absolutely monitoring it" across the state, J.C. Considine said. "It's really a decision that needs to be made locally between the local school district and the local board of health."
On Thursday, 236 students, or about 36 percent of Grafton High school's enrollment, and 15 out of 54 faculty members were out sick with flu-like symptoms. It is not confirmed if all those sickened have the H1N1 strain, but Connors said there are two confirmed cases in the school.
"This morning, as phone calls were received, we had 23 teachers ill, along with four custodians and several administrative staff members," Connors said. The number of students out sick today is unknown, he added.
"Since 43 percent of our teachers were out, we turned to Plan B," Connors said. "We wanted to close school for four consecutive days, and we will re-evaluate on Wednesday."
Connors wanted to stress to parents of students attending Grafton High that it is a "pivotal point" that students not commingle with one another during the four days off.
"We want to see some level of isolation in place for these four days," Connors said.
Comment
Permalink
E-mail
Contributors
blogger
Elizabeth Cooney is a former
health reporter for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, where she also was a
business reporter and an editor. Earlier in her career, she edited medical
books and journals at Little, Brown, and worked for Boston magazine.Boston Globe Health and Science staff:
- Gideon Gil, Health and Science Editor
- Ishani Ganguli, Short White Coat blogger
