Swine flu fears not enough to shutter schools

By Tracy Garcia Staff Writer

Whittier Daily News

San Gabriel Valley and Whittier school administrators say protecting students against exposure to the swine flu virus has definitely kept them on their toes for the past couple of weeks, but it wasn't enough to keep kids away from the classroom.

Where some Southern California schools actually shut down campuses for fear that one or more students had contracted the swine flu virus - called the H1N1 virus - most area educators say attendance rates have remained steady.

And they're likely to remain that way in light of Tuesday's announcement from the Centers for Disease Control, which said swine flu cases no longer warrant campus shutdowns, even when there are confirmed cases among students.

"That's very good news for all of us," said Joe Gillentine, superintendent of the 8,800-student East Whittier City School District.

"We've been receiving flu-related information every day, so it helps to recognize that it's not as bad as everyone initially believed," he said.

The impact of the swine flu virus is also expected to be a topic of discussion this morning at a regular meeting of dozens of school attendance and welfare officials at the Los Angeles County Office of Education in Downey.

But among local districts, it seems swine flu fears peaked at a time when many schools were starting this year's round of state testing - and may have unexpectedly helped keep student absenteeism at bay.

"We had a lot of incentives for schools to have students attend for testing," said Gina Ward, public information officer for the 17,500-student Rowland Unified School District.

Public schools must have at least 95 percent of students participate in testing every year, according to state requirements.

"But we've been monitoring everything very closely and doing all the precautions," Ward said. "And we haven't seen anything out of the ordinary."

That's not to say that there weren't plenty of worries among parents, students and school staffers in recent weeks, said Los Angeles County Chief School Nurse Cathy Bray.

"We had a lot of people very concerned last week," said Bray, who regularly communicates with school nurses throughout the county.

"But as the news coverage changed, and they started telling people that the symptoms were not very severe - it's been much calmer out there."

So far, there have been 11 confirmed cases of the swine flu in Los Angeles and Long Beach, according to county health officials. But U.S. cases have been mostly mild to moderate, and very similar to the seasonal flu.

Bray said her advice to school nurses was simple: Follow your usual policies on students who are ill.

"Students who have the flu are contagious before they start having symptoms," she said. "But once they start having symptoms, they need to stay home until they're well."

Binti Harvey, director of communications and community engagement for the 22,000-student Pasadena Unified School District, said regular flu updates were being sent to schools, students and parents, and administrators were "communicating constantly" with local health officials.

"But we have not had a swell of concern," Harvey said. "At least not in terms of (seeing a spike in) attendance or receiving a flood of phone calls."

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