School District Prepares for H1N1

As Scotch Plains-Fanwood schools get ready to reopen in a few weeks, district officials are starting now to prepare administrators and nurses for the upcoming flu season.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released new guidelines on how to deal with students who display symptoms of the H1N1 virus, more commonly known as swine flu. Not much has changed, but the CDC is now recommending that schools only shut down in extreme circumstances.

The report cites incidents during last spring when the benefits of dismissing all students were often outweighed by negative consequences, including students being left home alone, health workers missing shifts when they must stay home with their children, students missing meals, and interruption of students’ education.

“Everything we see indicates that they’re encouraging as much as possible for schools to stay open,” Superintendent Margaret Hayes told Patch on Wednesday. “Unless you’re in an extreme position where you didn’t have enough staff to run the school, I think they’re trying to put the burden on people to take it upon themselves to stay home." 

The school district will be sharing packets of the CDC information with administrators and nurses so that they can in turn review them with teachers, Hayes said.

The schools will continue to model and support good hygiene practices among staff and student this school year. They’ll also be recommending exclusion periods when necessary, routine cleaning practices and the monitoring of ill students and staff.

“The general precautionary outlines from last year still remain true,” Hayes said.

The school district will continue to monitor CDC advisories throughout the year and will attend briefings by the Department of Education and Health Department officials, she added. It will also stand ready to serve as a host site if a vaccination effort is initiated.

To read the CDC’s new guidelines, go here.