Published: October 21, 2009 10:01 pm      

Flu closes two districts

Legislation may grant relief

ASHLAND — The Kentucky General Assembly may craft legislation to help school districts beset by flu-related absences, and some area districts already appear likely to need it.

Kentucky Education Department Commissioner Terry Holliday on Wednesday said he has talked with Senate President David Williams and House Speaker Greg Stumbo about legislation that would relieve districts that lose more days than usual because of flu.

It probably would be similar to the bill passed in the last session after ice storms closed several districts for extended periods, said Holliday, in Ashland with Gov. Steve Beshear to launch a new education task force.

That bill allowed districts to write off some of the days they missed because of the storm.

Some northeast Kentucky districts already are hurting.

Elliott County schools have been closed since Tuesday and will be out the rest of the week; Greenup County School District and Russell Independent School District sent their students home for the rest of the week after classes on Wednesday.

Absences in Elliott, where by Monday afternoon attendance had dropped to 74 percent, weren’t so much related to flu as the fear of it, according to Superintendent John Williams. “Mass hysteria” had parents coming to school and yanking their children out of class on Monday, he said.

The district had some seasonal flu cases but no confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus, commonly known as swine flu, Williams said.

He fielded around 50 calls from frightened parents on Monday, he said. Public health expert Kristy Bolen spoke to faculty and staff about flu issues but couldn’t stem the tide.

“The one thing I can’t control is the rumors,” Williams said.

Bolen, a senior regional epidemiologist for FIVCO, said her talk targeted parents too, but none came.

Absences in Greenup and Russell are largely related to non-flu illnesses, officials there said.

Strep throat and upper respiratory infections, along with flu, are hitting Greenup hard, spokeswoman Scarlet Shoemaker said. Attendance there was at 85 percent when the decision was made to close the doors.

Upper respiratory infections are the main problem in Russell so far, said pupil personnel director Anthony Thompson. By Wednesday, district attendance was at 89 percent and the primary school had dropped to 82 percent, he said.

Skittish parents are understandable but they shouldn’t overreact, Bolen said. “They need to be concerned but not panicked,” she said. Ample supplies of flu vaccine are about two weeks away, “and then the fire hose will open,” she said.

Parents of sick children should keep them home and away from other people until they are better, she said.

Raceland athletic director Bill Farley said high school athletic events — the 16th Region volleyball tournament and the Russell-Raceland football game on Friday — will be played as scheduled.

He said the high school attendance at Raceland has been in the 90s. Most of the absences in that district are in the younger grades, he said.