School calendars tested by flu break

While some students luxuriated in the unexpected opportunity to bask in summery temperatures, others were well aware of the ticking clock: there are just a few weeks left of school and so many projects and research papers to finish up.

"It's hardly a break from academics; it's crunch time," said Olivia Schwob, a junior from West Roxbury who intends on writing two English papers during her weeklong break from Boston Latin School, where there have been two confirmed cases of swine flu.

Yesterday, confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus, coupled with large numbers of students calling in sick with flulike symptoms, caused three more area schools to close temporarily: The Fessenden School, a private all-boys school in Newton; Woodland Elementary School in Weston; and Umana Middle School Academy in East Boston, along with a nearby community center.

The shutdowns followed those earlier this week at Boston Latin; The Winsor School, an all-girls private academy just blocks away from Latin; and the private Dana Hall School in Wellesley.

While all the schools are scheduled to reopen sometime next week, the lost days could not come at a worse time: the final phase of MCAS testing at some schools and the final weeks of school, when many teachers are already behind on covering material while trying to prepare students for final exams. It also has caused the cancellation or postponement of sporting events and extracurricular activities, including the junior prom at Boston Latin.

Beth Minahana, a 14-year-old Boston Latin student from Dorchester, is torn about the weeklong break.

"It's fun because we get to miss school, but it's bad because it's going to affect our test schedules," Minahana said. "We're not going to have time to cram in all that we need to know for our finals."

The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education said yesterday that it would be flexible with MCAS schedules and may not force some public schools to make up canceled days to meet the state's minimum of 180 days in class.

Mitchell Chester, the department's commissioner, said it is probably too late to change the last day of school because many parents have already paid for summer camps for children or have vacation plans, while some teachers have already made commitments for summer jobs. But, he said, other schools might be able to make up a few days.

"We won't put school districts in a position where it's a hardship to make up because we are literally having this conversation at the end of May," Chester said. "I'm going to be flexible. . . . I don't have a hard and fast formula at this time. I will work with each school where this situation comes up."

The department's willingness to waive the 180-day rule is in sharp contrast to its stance last winter when a massive ice storm cut off electricity in Central Massachusetts, forcing several schools to close for more than a week. Chester felt the timing of the closures, less than halfway through the school year, left ample time to make up days.

The swine flu outbreak a month ago has largely affected young people, with more than 75 percent of the cases in Massachusetts, as in the rest of the nation, diagnosed in those 20 years old or younger. However, a survey of 1,200 school nurses by the state Department of Public Health, which was released yesterday, found that 88 percent of respondents said the virus has had minimal or no impact on their schools.

But the survey did reveal one area of concern: a high number of students who come to school but are later dismissed because of illness. During that brief time in school, students could have spread their symptoms to classmates and staff.

"One of the lessons we are learning from the survey and the experiences of the last few weeks is we need to do more to encourage parents to keep students at home when they have influenza symptoms," said John Auerbach, the state health commissioner.

In many instances, outbreaks have occurred at esteemed institutions, from Boston Latin to Harvard School of Dental Medicine, where students are known to skip meals or cut back on sleep to accommodate hectic schedules and late-night study sessions. At Harvard dental school, state health officials learned the extent of a culture where students push themselves and never take a day off.

"There is at least some evidence in schools with highly motivated students that students are more likely to come to school when they are not feeling well," Auerbach said. "We don't know if that's the case in all the schools we are dealing with."

A day after city health and school officials closed Boston Latin and warned students to avoid contact with one another to stave off the spread of the flu, student leaders pushed ahead yesterday with a rally at the State House, which drew hundreds of students from across the city who were concerned about school budget cuts.

Maya Jonas-Silver, a Latin student organizer, said organizers felt that if they had called off the rally or had not attended themselves, they would have let down students from other schools.

"We felt this was pretty important," said Jonas-Silver of the students' advocacy for more federal stimulus money and giving communities the power to raise the meals and lodging taxes to plug budget gaps.

"Everyone was very conscientious," she said. "Anyone who felt sick stayed home."

Globe correspondent Jenna Nierstedt contributed to this report.