Education
School shot deadline, flu thins attendance
With several districts reporting increased absences, even more Johnson County students may be sent home this morning as the deadline for vaccinations ends today.
According to the Texas Department of State Health Services Web site, students in kindergarten through 12th grade are required to receive the minimum immunizations before today. The deadline was extended an extra month in late August.
Grandview ISD reported it has about three students without the shots, Keene ISD reported at least 10, and Rio Vista ISD about 30.
Alvarado ISD reported that every student is immunized, and Cleburne has no definite number but expects that most will be able to attend. Infomation about Burleson ISD was unavailable by press time.
“We are going to try to extend that deadline because we had a shot clinic set up since last year,” said Steve Madson, interim superintendent at Rio Vista ISD.
He said the district will have a shot clinic Wednesday with the Texas Department of Health office in Cleburne at Rio Vista Middle School.
“We are trying to see what we can do working with the state on that because right now clinics are inundated with giving shots,” he said.
Lisa Magers, spokeswoman for Cleburne ISD, said the district will extend the deadline at least until next week as local clinics struggle to supply immunizations.
Students who have not received them by today will be handled on a case-by-case basis, she said.
Talk of immunizations can only lead to talk of swine flu, or the H1N1 virus.
Each district said it is taking necessary precautions as advised by the Centers for Disease Control, including having scheduled cleanings, making hand sanitizer available in classrooms and emphasizing education on how to prevent the spread of flu.
Even with the precautions, H1N1 and seasonal flu seem to be thinning some district’s attendance sheets.
Keene ISD nurse Lesli Kilgore said the district has several students out with flu symptoms, and last week 10 students were confirmed as having swine flu.
“The students weren’t here that Monday — it was a teacher in-service day — and the mother called and said that her daughter had been confirmed with swine flu,” Kilgore said. “But she’s already back to school, it was a mild case.”
Kilgore said no students have been hospitalized for swine flu and most have returned to class.
Sonda McLellan, administrative assistant for Godley ISD, said 151 students were absent Tuesday and 160 Wednesday, most reporting flu-like symptoms.
“Our normal absences run around 50 students. It’s a lot higher than normal,” she said. “Some of them may just be parents keeping them at home.”
Madson said a total of 118 students were absent districtwide in RVISD last week. Only 36 reported flu-like symptoms, with no confirmed swine flu cases.
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