Schools around the South Plains are taking extra steps to protect student’s health as the flu and other illnesses impact dozens of students.
According to school officials, Rise Academy Charter School cancelled classes for Thursday and Friday due to students being sick. In addition, Slaton ISD spent their administrative day disinfecting their schools.
Jim Andrus, the assistant superintendent for Slaton ISD, said attendance dropped to a low of 82 percent in the past week, much of which was a result of student illness.
“I think one in every three kids in our district right now do have the flu,” Andrus said. “It’s also strep, sinus infections, and the stomach flu.”
Sarenda Godfrey, the business manager for Rise Academy, said the school has seen 25 percent of their students come down with these illnesses as well.
Lubbock Cooper ISD has seen the number of flu cases almost double in just two weeks, from 69 cases to 125 cases, said Sadie Anderson, LCISD’s communication’s administrator. She said the number of strep throat cases also increased.
Paulett Rozneck, Lubbock ISD coordinator of student health services, said they saw flu cases arise late this season, but the number of cases have not differed from last year thus far.
All these schools, however, said they are taking preventative measures.
“We had our custodians going in and cleaning at night,” Andrus said. “They are being paid to stay extra hours and making sure all the surfaces are clean.”
He said their custodians are following CDC sanitary guidelines to keep as many students in their seats as possible. This included using proper disinfectants, ensuring children wash their hands correctly and often, and encouraging kids to stay home with a fever above 100 degrees.
Germblast, a disinfecting company, routinely comes into spray Lubbock ISD schools, Rozneck said. Their main priority however, was making sure their teachers were trained to teach kids how to properly take care of their hygiene, she said.
