School absentee rate soars
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Approximately 12 percent of school system students are currently out of school, said Director of Schools Dr. Jerry Hale. The normal absentee rate is between 5 and 6 percent. Far from being an epidemic, Hale said this kind of sickness is a yearly occurrence and usually runs its course in a few weeks, adding this year is not as bad as years past.
Hardest hit thus far has been Irving College Elementary, which last Monday saw student absences begin to rise. By Wednesday, absences had soared to 97 – almost half of the school’s enrollment. This Monday absences were down to 39, which is considerably lower, but still well above the school’s average.
“On an average day we might have five to 10 absences,” said school principal David Walker. “Some of our classes, which normally have 17 to 20 students, have had only five students some days.”
With such a low attendance rate, introducing new material has been a challenge for teachers, who instead are using the time to focus on review and reinforcement with the remaining students.
Though absences seem to be decreasing at Irving College this week, they appear to on the increase at several other county schools.
At Warren County Middle School, which normally has an absentee rate of 4 percent, absences jumped to over 20 percent Monday as 137 students had either not come to school or checked out by 9 a.m. Principal Donna Trevathan said this was the highest number of students the school has had out all year.
High absences were also reported at Hickory Creek Elementary. Monday saw over 100 absences, reported principal Donald Prater, who said the absentee rate is usually one-half to one-third that number.
Morrison Elementary, which had only 33 absences Friday, saw that number jump to 80 on Monday, with over 20 more checking out once there.
“It appears to be worse this year than usual,” said principal Ronnie Brown. “We’re doing all we can to keep everything sanitized. Students have been reminded of the importance of washing hands and the janitors have been instructed to sanitize door knobs and water fountains as often as possible.”
Though not as hard hit as students, county teachers have not been immune. According to Audrey Morgan, site manager of the county’s substitute service, she received 157 requests for substitute teachers last week. That number did not include requests that went through her company’s national office after hours. Normally, she said, Kelly fills only 50 to 100 subs per week.
Recently, the school system’s health services department sent letters to parents giving them guidelines to help them determine when their children should stay home from school.
“Of course we don’t want children missing school, but neither do we want sick children sent to school where they could infect other children,” said director of health services Lesa Duvall.
A runny nose, a run-of-the-mill cold or bad cough is no reason to keep children home, the department says. However, conditions such as repeated vomiting or diarrhea, fevers over 100 degrees, strep throat and scarlet fever and ear infections all warrant keeping children home.
Duvall reminds parents and the general public that, though simple, hand washing is the No. 1 means of preventing the spread of germs and should be practiced often.