Flu hits individual schools harder than system as a whole

Although Bedford County schools' overall absenteeism rate is below the state guideline for a flu-related school shutdown, individual schools have shown spikes.

The countywide absenteeism rate was 8.9 percent on Friday but East Side Elementary School had 23 percent of its 383 students absent that day.

School Superintendent Ed Gray said that Liberty School had spiked as high as 17 percent absenteeism, but was back down to 11.3 percent on Friday.

The report Gray receives each morning is officially a report of absenteeism, with no official system-wide indication of how many of those absentees are due to H1N1 or seasonal flu. But the assumption, verified through conversations with personnel at individual schools, is that any spike in absenteeism is flu-related.

State guidelines suggest a five-day school shutdown (to allow the disease to run its course) if absenteeism reaches the 15-20 percent range. Although individual schools have passed that mark, Gray said it's logistically difficult to dismiss only one school; the state would require that school to schedule makeup days to bring it in line with the rest of the county. So discussions of flu-related shutdown are primarily focused on whether or not to shut down the school system as a whole.

"Right now, what we're seeing is just school-to-school," said Gray.

The school system must also look at teacher absenteeism, said Gray. No teachers were absent from East Side on Friday.

The school system has a pandemic flu plan in place. Some actions have already been taken, such as teaching children proper hand-washing techniques and directing teachers not to plan any field trips that can't be rescheduled or have fees reimbursed in case of a closure.

Gray said school system officials met Thursday with Bedford County Health Department to discuss vaccinations. The school system will allow the health department to use school facilities for vaccinations beginning in mid-Ocotber, with school nurses assisting and School Resource Officers providing support as well.

"The school system is cooperating completely with them," said Gray.

The Google Flu web site, www.google.org/flutrends, shows Tennessee as having a high concentration of flu cases, and higher than any adjoining state.

The state health department has opened a toll-free flu information line to answer questions related to both H1N1 flu and seasonal flu. The number is (877) 252-3432. It will be staffed between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.