After delay, Wellesley schools order more hand sanitizers to combat flu

"People are very anxious because they haven't been able to get vaccine for their children," she said Friday. "This is not a huge thing to do. Maybe it will help."

Over the summer, Wong, along with other school administrators and health department officials, decided to ask parents to send their middle school and high school students to school with their own supplies of hand sanitizer. Elementary school classrooms all have sinks, so those children are able to wash their hands with soap and water.

State public health specialists advised schools to place hand sanitizers in classrooms, but Wong said installing hand sanitizers in classrooms was rejected for three reasons: The alcohol-based gels present a fire hazard, so refills would have to be stored in a safe place. Hand sanitizers are also costly. And she had doubts about whether students, especially in the middle school, would get up and use them in front of their peers.

Some parents objected to placing hand sanitizers only in certain areas of the school, pointing to state and federal recommendations advising otherwise.

"The idea is to have it accessible and make it part of the culture. When kids bring their own in, there's more potential for lack of compliance," said Dr. John Wiecha, whose son attends the high school. "It seems to me it should have been in place at the start of the school year."

Wong said new dispensers and refills have just arrived for the cafeteria and she is ordering more for the classrooms. School nurses also have supplies to give students.

Mary Suresh, the town's director of public health, was part of discussions in the summer following swine flu's emergence in the spring. In her view, dispensers in common areas, school offices, and classrooms would be ideal. "I think we'd love to see more of it. But we have had to move on to other things, like vaccinating all the people in the school."