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Students may not have to make up days lost to swine flu

E-mail|Link|Comments () May 20, 2009 05:22 PM

By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

The state education commissioner pledged today that if a school has been shut down due to swine flu fears, he will be flexible about a rule mandating 180 days of instruction per year. The announcement was good news for students facing the prospect of a school year extending into their summer vacation.

"Our priority right now has to be to ensure the safety and health of our students, faculty, and administrators," education Commissioner Mitchell D. Chester said in a statement. He said it was "too late in the year to look at adding days to the calendar to meet the 180-day requirement. Given the seriousness, complexity, and unpredictability of this issue, we will be flexible."

Chester is "definitely open" to issuing waivers, but will be dealing with each school on a case-by-case basis, said Heidi Guarino, Chester's chief of staff. "He's being reasonable about this," she said.

Chester also committed to working with superintendents and charter school leaders to reschedule MCAS testing in schools with high absentee rates and schools that were forced to close.

Meanwhile, the number of local schools shuttered by fears of a swine flu outbreak continued to grow today as weeklong closures were announced at schools in Newton, Weston, and East Boston.

Officials at The Fessenden School in Newton closed today after a spike in absences and one confirmed case of the swine flu, according to school spokeswoman Elizabeth Sewall. The decision to close the all-boys private school came after 91 students called in sick Monday, followed by 83 on Tuesday.

Woodland Elementary School in Weston also had a confirmed case of swine flu and decided to shut classrooms today after the absentee rate surged 20 percent.

"We hope this temporary closing of Woodland will prevent the spread of symptoms in that facility and elsewhere in our district," Superintendent Cheryl Maloney wrote in a letter posted on the Weston schools website. "In each school, the custodians will be increasing their sanitizing of surfaces and Woodland will be thoroughly cleaned during the closure."

The Umana Middle School Academy in East Boston will close for seven days starting on Thursday because approximately 100 students have called in sick the last three days and another 20 to 40 pupils have been sent home each day with fever and other flu-like symptoms. Several teachers also are out sick, according to a press release issued by Boston Superintendent Carol R. Johnson. One of the illnesses at Umana has been confirmed as the swine flu, known formally as the H1N1 influenza.

The temporary shutdowns came as Boston Latin School, the city’s largest high school, announced it was canceling classes for a week because more than 250 students called in sick or were sent home because of respiratory symptoms. By Tuesday night, definitive testing confirmed that two students had the disease, and preliminary results on a handful of other youths strongly suggested they, too, are infected.

Other closures include The Winsor School, an all-girls private academy just blocks away from Boston Latin, and the private Dana Hall School in Wellesley, where 100 students and teachers developed fevers, sore throats, and other flu-like symptoms.

Oak Hill Middle School in Newton reported about 90 absences Tuesday.

The Fessenden School, which has 476 students in kindergarten through grade 9, is scheduled to reopen Tuesday. The 102 boarding students were given the options of going home, staying with a nearby relative, or remaining in their living quarters on campus.

Woodland Elementary School is slated to remain closed until next Wednesday. Boston Latin, The Winsor School, and Dana Hall School are expected to resume classes Tuesday.

In East Boston, Umana is scheduled to reopen May 28. While the school remains shuttered, the nearby Harborside Community Center will also be closed, according to the Boston Centers for Youth and Families. MCAS testing has been completed at Umana, but officials said that any student who missed exams because of illness will be allowed to make up the test on May 28.