Small Schools Dealing With Swine Flu

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By Kyle Trompeter

Summary

The question - what if one of these kids gets swine flu? They are in the Stanfield School District, which is one without a nurse on staff. How will the district deal with it?

Story Published: Sep 10, 2009 at 5:15 PM PST

STANFIELD - The question - what if one of these kids gets swine flu? They are in the Stanfield School District, which is one without a nurse on staff. How will the district deal with it?

“If it appears to be swine flu, then we contact the parents right away, which is similar to other illnesses that a child might have,” said Stanfield Superintendent, Darce Driskel.

Sending the kid home if he shows signs? That's a given, especially with no certified nurse on staff. What about a worst case plan? That would be shutting the school down if an outbreak occurs. One Seattle school did that last spring. Right now - there isn't one, but that plan is in the works.

“Whenever you talk about children becoming ill and also staff members becoming ill, it is a great concern to us,” said Driskel.

So the district is taking a proactive approach to keep healthy students healthy, and keep sick students learning.

“Schools can actually have kids access their lesson plan from a teachers homepage. That is something we are considering,” said Driskel

The idea is for parents to play it safe if their student isn't feeling well, keep them at home for the day, and not miss a beat in the classroom. The schools hope to have that tool up and running by the end of the year on the districts website.