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October 28, 2009
Dear Parents or Guardians:
I hope this message finds you well and enjoying the
week.
As a means of keeping you informed regarding the
impact of the possible emergence of illness due to the H1N1 virus in
our district and other school districts across the state, I am
sharing the following information with you.
We continue
to track our student and staff absence rates and they appear only to
show a small increase from what they have averaged for many months
and, in some cases, years. Our current data continues to show
that our rates are well below those of other school districts who
have implemented more significant actions to address their absence
rates. Using the range of Tuesday through Thursday of each
week (Monday's and Friday's are typically artificially
elevated), we generally have an average student absence rate of
anywhere between 2% and 5%. The following is what our reported
rates have been for this
week.
HKHS
October 28, 2009
Number of students absent 75
Percent absent: 10.87%
October 27, 2009
Number of students absent 82
Percent absent: 11.88%
October 26, 2009
Number of students absent 69
Percent absent: 10.00%
HKMS
October 28, 2009
Number of students absent 80
Percent absent: 9.8%
October 27, 2009
Number of students absent 77
Percent absent: 9.6%
October 26, 2009
Number of students absent 92
Percent absent: 11.47%
KES
October 28, 2009
Number of students absent 21
Percent absent: 4.78%
October 27, 2009
Number of students absent 18
Percent absent: 4.10%
October 26, 2009
Number of students absent 27
Percent absent: 6.15%
BES
October 28, 2009
Number of students absent 28
Percent absent: 9.3%
October 27, 2009
Number of students absent 28
Percent absent: 9.3%
October 26, 2009
Number of students absent 26
Percent absent: 8.67%
HES
October 28, 2009
Number of students absent 31
Percent absent: 11.48%
October 27, 2009
Number of students absent 23
Percent absent: 8.52%
October 26, 2009
Number of students absent 28
Percent absent: 10.37%
On a related note, we are committed to continuing the use
of prevention strategies as have been outlined many times over the
past few weeks. As an added prevention strategy, we have
decided to postpone the HKMS Activity Night (5th & 6th graders)
as well as the dance (7th & 8th) to a date in the near
future. As some of you may be aware, these events are planned
as "back to back" functions and were to take place this coming
Friday.
This decision was arrived at using the
following:
1. Superintendent consulted with the
District Nursing Supervisor and HKMS Principal.
It was a
unanimous decision to postpone the events listed
above.
2. Many of the school closings and
cancellations of activities at other schools in the state were based
upon significant spikes in student absence rates after events were
held. These events involved large numbers of students together
in one interior location for a fixed period of time (Homecoming
Dances, routine dances etc.).
3. Given that we
know some students are experiencing illness with flu-like symptoms
and have been staying at home as recommended, we are concerned that
students will be allowed to attend what is sometimes considered to
be a major activity in the life of an adolescent (dances) before
they fully recover. The converse is also concerning to
us. Specifically, if some students are not quite feeling right
at the present time, they may be allowed to attend those same
activities.
4. While we discussed after school
programs, we concluded that children (who are assumed to be well)
participating in them have already been with each other over the
course of any school day and are not likely to spread any illness to
each other.
In the
event, you have questions or concerns regarding this information,
please do not hesitate to contact the District Nursing Supervisor,
Linda Kauffman at (860) 345-4584, HKMS Principal, Mim Wagner at
(860) 663-1241 or myself at (860) 345-4534.
In
closing, I thank you again for your patience as we work to keep you
informed of this very complex situation.
Please accept my best wishes for a great evening
and a better tomorrow.
I remain.
Very truly yours,
Gary
Gary
S.Mala
Superintendent
of
Schools
Regional School District 17
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