High school cancels dance over flu fears

Written by Maggie Caldwell
Wednesday, 04 November 2009 13:27

With two different flu strains hitting this season and warnings about the increased risk of infection at social functions, Amity Regional High School officials have canceled this year’s Homecoming Dance.

Homecoming, originally scheduled for Nov. 20, was called off this week after school administrators received reports from neighboring communities indicating that an increase in student illness occurred after school-sponsored dances.

“In collaboration with the Amity High School Student Government, a decision to cancel the dance has been made as a proactive measure to avoid the possibility of spreading the flu virus,” it said in a Listserve letter from Charles Britton, school principal.

The Homecoming Dance will be rescheduled for a date after the flu season passes.

Last week, Amity Middle School-Bethany campus reported an absentee rate of 30% with the majority of students out with flu-like symptoms.

To date, Amity Regional High School has not seen an uptick in student absences. On an average day, there are generally 25 to 40 students absent, which represents 2% to 5% of the entire student body. This number has been stable over the past week, it said in the Listserve address.

All teachers at the high school recently received training on the online messaging system, Moodle. Teachers will be regularly updating their Moodle sites with homework and class activities.

The principal reminds parents and students that it is important that they remain home if they develop flu-like symptoms. CDC guidelines dictate that students must remain home until they are free from flu-like symptom for 24 hours without medication. During the recovery period, students may access missed class activities and homework using the Moodle sites.

The primary means the district is using to keep parents informed is the Listserve. Parents may sign up to receive alerts at the Web site amityregion5.org.