AUSTIN, Texas — Two letters were sent out this week to Bailey Middle School parents after a flu outbreak impacted students.
There are 1,003 students at the school and 285 absences were reported on Tuesday alone. On Thursday, 258 were reported.
On Monday, Jan. 28 and Tuesday, Jan. 29, Bailey Middle School Principal John Rocha sent letters out to parents regarding the illnesses.
Here's the letter from Monday:
I'm writing to remind everyone that the cold and flu season is in full swing. We've had a recent increase in student absences due to illness (some cases of the flu have been reported) so we wanted to make sure we are reminding everyone to do your part to keep yourself and your family healthy.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends the best way to prevent contracting the flu is to get a flu vaccination. Each year a different vaccine is developed in anticipation of a specific strain of virus being the one that becomes dominant. That's why we get a new flu shot every year. Beyond the vaccine, keeping your distance from people who are sick will lessen your chances of catching something. Finally, keep your hands washed throughout the day (with soap and water) and covering your mouth and nose when sneezing will help prevent the spread of germs/viruses.
If your child is sick, please keep them home, especially if they have fever. A student should be fever free (without using fever-reducing medication) for a full 24 hours before they return to school. Sending a sick child to school only serves to expose dozens of other students to illness. Please keep your sick children at home to reduce the chances of spreading the viruses to otherwise healthy peers. You would want other parents to provide the same courtesy to you and your child.
Finally, if your child does show flu-like symptoms, it is important to get them to the doctor to have them checked. If you catch it early, some medicines can reduce the symptoms and length of the illness.
Here's hoping we can all do our part to keep ourselves and our loved ones as healthy as possible.
And here's the letter from Tuesday:
This is John Rocha, Principal at Bailey Middle school, with an important message to keep you informed about an increase in student illnesses at Bailey. Currently we are experiencing a high number of absences due to various illnesses, with a significant number reporting both cold and flu-like symptoms. Some parents have reported confirmed cases of the flu from their physician. As a precaution, beginning yesterday, we initiated disinfecting protocols with our custodial team and we provided additional disinfecting wipes and solution bottles for our teachers. Today we will continue to follow district protocols for cleaning and disinfection, with extra support from our district Housekeeping department, so we can thoroughly address all areas of the school.
Moving forward we encourage you to remind your child daily about proper hygiene to help prevent the spread of germs. Hand washing with soap and water, covering your mouth when coughing/sneezing, avoiding contact with people who are sick, etc. If your child does get sick please be sure to keep them home if they have a fever of 100 or more, or if they have been vomiting. A child must be fever-free for 24 hours (without the aid of fever reducing medicine) before they should return to school. Students with severe coughing or sneezing should remain home as well to prevent the spread of airborne germs. This is a very important practice to prevent any sick child from passing their illness on to others.
With all of us doing our part we can maintain a healthy learning environment for all of our children.
In the letters, Rocha talks about how the school is taking extra precautions to stop the rapid spread of illness and how parents can help.
"We just need to keep reminding the kids, especially right now, so that we're trying to keep everybody as safe as we can," Rocha said. "We know that there's something going around, and we want to make sure we keep that spread from happening."
"Absolutely, if they're not feeling well, keep them home," Sharla Demederios, the mom of an eighth grader, said. "It's not hard to convince a middle schooler to stay home."
The school was also using a disinfectant on the entire school in areas where kids are touching things. The cafeteria, handrails and doorknobs are the biggest areas.
Bailey Middle School is not the only school that has been impacted by flu this year. McDade ISD and Lago Vista ISD had to cancel classes this month due to flu outbreaks.
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