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By DIANE D'AMICO

Education Writer

ATLANTIC CITY - School officials knew they had a problem as soon as they arrived at Our Lady Star of the Sea Regional School on Monday morning.

"There were already dozens of messages from parents saying their child was home sick," Camden Diocese spokesman Andrew Walton said. "And the calls just kept coming in."

Several teachers and staff members also called in sick, and more children went to the nurse with flulike symptoms during the day.

By the end of the school day, with more than half of the students out sick, school officials opted to close for the rest of the week.

The diocese issued a statement Monday afternoon saying 97 students called in sick Monday and another 15 were sent home during the day, representing 57 percent of the school's 197 pre-K through eighth-grade students. Eight of the school's 19 teachers and aides and five staff workers also were home sick.

Walton said several students had tested positive for the H1N1 swine flu virus over the past couple of weeks, and school officials had kept parents informed and implemented procedures to minimize exposure, such as frequent hand-washing.

But on Friday, the entire school population had been in the gym together for a Halloween event sponsored by the Student Council, and that may have contributed to the rapid spread of the illness through the school, Walton said.

Walton said about 60 percent of the students come from Atlantic City, with the rest coming from Pleasantville, Egg Harbor Township and other municipalities.

He said city and county health departments were notified of the closing.

"The time off will give sick students, faculty and staff time to recuperate, and maintenance staff time to disinfect the school this week." Walton said.

Principal Sister Mary Shamus Zehrer, sent a letter about the closing home with students Monday, and staff is phoning families whose children were absent.

This is the second Atlantic County school to close because of high rates of flu. Pilgrim Academy in Galloway Township closed last week after about 20 percent of its students reported being sick with flulike symptoms. The school re-opened Monday.

Atlantic County Divison of Public Health Director Patricia Diamond said Monday her office has been in contact with schools as they track the flu, but she knows of no other schools at risk of closing.

She said the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is not advising schools to close, but that each school must make the decision based on the effect on its students and staff.

"It really depends on their ability to stay open," she said.

Contact Diane D'Amico:

609-272-7241

DDamico@pressofac.com

6 comments:

• MarkMK (5) posts 5:01 pm

  Mr. Joisey Girl, I wasn't sure if you were being sarcastic or not. I thought you were just ignorant based on your comments on the other article.

• joisey (52) posts 4:20 pm

  well....markymark figures I have to explain it to you.......the comment I made was SARCASTIC. do I need to spell that slower for you?

• Nikynewark (75) posts 10:31 am

  In a casino town the question is, what are the casinos doing to stop the spread of swine flu to the customers? I went to a couple of AC casinos over the weekend and I saw nothing being done. Given that slots and video poker machines are filthy, why aren't the casinos at least trying to stop the spread of the swine flu? What can be done? Well one slot parlor put up extra signs warning about flu season and hand washing. Maybe some signs about covering a sneeze. Or best, use some of those huge profits to provide hand sanitizer and hire extra help to spray and sanitize those filthy machines.

• MarkMK (5) posts 8:33 am

  What is the point of disinfecting the church or school?? I could never understand this. Studies have shown that influenza viruses live on surfaces for about 2-8 hours on average. By the time the school/church reopens, the virus is dead. That is great if they do clean the church/school, but it is an effort that has no bearing on viral transmission. Bottom line - stay home from school and work if you are sick. That will cut down transmission rates.

• joisey (52) posts 8:00 am

  was the church disinfected???

• KURTZ4Mayor (145) posts 11:00 pm

  The VICTORY party for the KURTZ FOR MAYOR TEAM will be at St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church located at 13 S Mount Vernon Ave Atlantic City, NJ 08401 (609) 348-3495 beginning at 8 p.m. Come out, enjoy a FREE bite to eat and something to drink and say hello to Atlantic City's Newest MAYOR!

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