I attended a meeting at the local high school the other evening that was a pandemic influenza presentation by someone from the DPH. To give you an idea of how things went, the superintendent got up at the end of the slide show and thanked the presenter for presenting such a heavy subject in such a light and warm and fuzzy way.
There were some points that struck me:
Although the presenter gave the standard 3 day prep speech, she did at one time mention 2 weeks in passing and she did mention (unintentionally, I think) that she has CASES of food in the garage that her husband teases her because he is not allowed to touch them. She made a point of telling people not to hoard, but to have all kinds of meds on hand to help with flu or other illnesses that may occur while stores are not open or stocked.
The superintendent of schools told the small gathering not to worry about school closings because they have an emergency committee in place that is looking at every angle and they will determine the point at which too many bus drivers are sick to successfully run the bus routes and have school. HELLO? My children will be out of school long before there are too many bus drivers out sick! I plan to meet with her next week to see if I can provide another perspective to this “emergency planning committee.”
The notice went to the entire school community. I was one of about 2 dozen people there and later learned that most of them were school officials. Luckily, they plan to have another such mtg for the town and will televise it in the town. That is where I will mount my ambush….”you told me that 3 days is recommended and 2 weeks great, but what have you prepped for and what do you tell your friends and family?”
Anyway, my point here is that our school administration seems more concerned with keeping school open, afterall, people have to keep working, and no emphasis is being given to the fact that the schools are giant incubators for the flu. I sure hope the state and federal govts are more on top of things when it comes to schools needing to close because otherwise, mine will be the last one standing. Oh, and to her credit, in a sidebar comment the presenter did tell the teachers to prep packages of work that could be sent home with the students in the event of a closure…but then again she said it would only be 3 days or …no more than a week or two. AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH.
A couple of years ago, our school system was shut down for a solid week because of NORMAL flu, no packets of work went home. By the time the school shut down, most kids allready had the flu. This last year my daughter had NORMAL flu and I kept her home for a week and she was penalized because you could only miss three days of school without a doctors excuse. I called the doctors office and they said “DON’T bring her in, we’re allready flooded with sick people, we can’t give an antibiotic for (flu) virus, she’ll just pick up something worse than what she allready has, the best thing for her is rest and fluids (which I allready knew). It boggles my mind to think what they will do with pandemic flu.
Green Mom – at 13:02 “It boggles my mind to think what they will do with pandemic flu.”
They will more than likely do all of the wrong things until it is too late. It is no better in higher education. I am so tired of hearing:
“We have plans for every contingency. Since our response will be highly tailored to the circumstances at hand, discussions of actual measures taken are fruitless at this time.”
Yeah….right.
One silver lining to the lack of food, electricity, and fuel may be that the schools will be forced to close. No food means no school meals, which are required by law in most states. No fuel means no busses. No electricity means no light, heat, A/C or water (toilets!) Schools must have all three to stay open.
prepperbabe – at 14:26
However, the damage may be done before those supplies run short.
Schools are under huge pressures to keep open - states require them to fulfill x-number of minimum days, and they are trying to cram huge work-loads down kids’s throats to improve test scores. The fact that Ma-Ma’s school even aknowledged there could be a problem is worlds ahead of many other schools, which are in complete denial/ignorance. Our school is quick to pull the trigger for snow for fear of lawsuits (hello, we live in CT - it does SNOW here) but has never, ever closed the school for illness, even when some classes were down to 25% participation. Even though many parents are prepping, once they hear H5N1 is spreading, I think many won’t take the chance and pull their kids. There’s too much risk involved. It’s not just a bad stomach bug. It’s a possible death sentence. Same with teachers. No kids + no teachers (+no drivers probably) = no schools. Yes, it may be too late and early closure would help prevent many from getting ill. But I also see the other side where officials will be loathe to pull the trigger too early and hear parents bit and moan that their kids have one week less of summer vacation. While I don’t agree, I do understand.
So, I guess it’s a good thing we put our kids on private school this year lol! It has nothing to do with AF, but I am thrilled that the staff worked on contignecy plans over the summer. If only the public schools in our area would take notice.
I didn’t think about the schools being required to be open a certain number of days for the year. Our oldest started kindergarten at a private school this year, but I haven’t found out if there are any contingency plans yet. Another factor - most parents depend on schools as their daycare so they can work. No school, no where for kids to go. Hubby teaches at a college and he has had no communication concerning planning for a panflu.
My dad missed a year of school from his family being quaranteened for smallpox and then polio or some other disease, as did a lot of other kids at his school. Those kids simply started back the next year in the same grade they had been when they left.
So I guess what it comes down to is that the schools need to be open a certain number of days to qualify for the aid money they receive, and many parents need them open because of daycare issues for working families. And then on the other hand, schools are giant flu breeding grounds and could be the place where many students bring the flu home to their families. I’m glad that I only have to make this decision for my own family (and that is no easy task) because I would not want to be the one who is deciding this for all of the people who will wait for TPTB to tell them what to do.
Ma-Mom, I wrote a bunch of handouts on pandemic info last spring for our elementary school principal to use. She was gung ho to distribute them to parents. She either lost her nerve (even though she’s prepping) or got hijacked by higher-ups. Nothing has happened with the info, and no one is even meeting to discuss a plan. I have no expectation that anything will be handled appropriately at the schools. I am lucky. I work from home. I can take my kids out any time I want, and I will. I don’t know how families with both parents working outside the home are going to do it. Between a rock and a hard place.
Every now and then I fill in for a school bus transportation on handicap busess and preschool buses in Nye County , the 3rd largest county in the United States (home of the Nuke Test Site, Area 51, Yuka Mountain National Nuke Storage Facility) and last year I also gave some Avian Flu information to the person in charge, and as far as I know naught has happened. I did give some information to some of the bus drivers and they told me, that they will not drive when the pandemic starts, as even now in a normal year they pick up everything that the kids carry on board. And it is so common to send children to school SICK to let the school babysit them during the day.
At the beginning of this school year, the county health nurse spoke briefly about the possibility of a flu pandemic at our blood borne pathogens training. She even had an exercise to bring it a little closer to home. After she handed out the notes to all, she told us that she had something on her hands (some kind of powdery residue) that was deposited on the papers as she gave them to us. She made an analogy to the “stuff” being bacteria or viral…or the “bug”, and then passed around a black light to demonstrate where the germs had landed. It showed up on people’s faces, hands, arms, clothing, etc.
Last school year, I took info to our principal/superintendant and he stated that the county health dept. would be the one to handle this issue. I quit talking about it at work because my friends were quite tired of hearing about it all. Well, I just smiled at each of them as the nurse spoke about the precautions and preparedness steps we should take. The sad part is that she was not very convincing of the real possibility of it all. There was some complaining about parents sending kids to school sick, but no discussion about what plans our school should be making.
I stopped off at the board of ed in my town today to ask them to be part of my town “Plan”
I instead left with their “pandemic plan” in hand…
While it is perfect for seasonal flu epidemic, or a VERY low CFR, It will not work for what we see developing as the H5N1 Pandemic strain. It in fact will guarentee that the schools will be the vectors that will infect a whole town. This is a quick read… i havnt had time to really read nor digest.
example - it has all the good stuff of hand washing, sneeze and cough control etc…
When a sickness starts in town, they begin monitoring kids health condition in the AM - if sick they are sent to nurse for diagnosis.
It has - when 10% of students are ill, notify the headquarters that you have sick kids. They send out a letter to parents telling them to keep sick kids home…
This is THE death sentence.
There are 2 more levels - 30% the think about closing the school… wait for the health dept to tell them then they will close.
Please take a look at King County Washington (including Seattle)’s pandemic plan — I will post a link if I can — I remember reading it regarding schools and their plan has them closing schools VERY EARLY — I think it was at WHO level 5 (They seemed to differentiate between 5A and 5B — not sure what that was all about— cases in Washington versus case outside perhaps?)
Anyhow, I think that the decision to close schools there was made as part of an overall cohesive plan by the Department of Health, not left say to individual school districts, which is smart in my opinion. I wish we could afford to move to Seattle. They seem to know what they are doing.
Closing schools early would take a lot of guts if it wasn’t clear we were talking about a pandemic with a very severe CFR. (Severe meaning, more than .44%!) I think everyone agrees kids are germ spreaders. I’m sure there’s a more scientific way of putting it. But you have to be willing to take the short term disruption of having to find alternate child care for kids. That’s a huge issue. If it becomes known that 5% of flu victims are dying of this disease, well then, closing schools is a no brainer. But if it is only .2% CFR? Not so clear, then the decision rests on how old the victims are, I suppose, and how visible the deaths.
Somewhere in between those two numbers, is the decisive point where the economic advantage of keeping schools open is less than the economic penalty of a lot of deaths. I’m sorry I can’t put it better. I know what the problem is, I just can’t find the words tonight to say it. It is all about numbers. Schools that are planning on muddling thorugh somehow, keeping schools open until 10% or 30% are sick, just aren’t thinking about CFR. They are still thinking about staffing.
Contra Costa County also had a good plan. I’ll look around for the link. I don’t remember if they laid out what would be the trigger point (although, as we’ve discussed on other threads, it’s tough to have just one trigger. it has to be fluid) but they seem to know something is coming. they even have form letters to send to parents if the schools close, etc.
I just know that here in CT when they close the schools for “questionable” snow days (eg. not so bad, clearly not a blizzard) parents go nuts. Even parents who don’t work are bent out of shape that they’ll miss their tennis lesson beause Bobby and Suzy don’t have school. If a school board pulls the trigger early in a crisis, or even if there isn’t even a crisis, no one will take it seriously and will just be mad. Pull it too late and too many will get sick.
Same here about schools closing for questionable snow days. We don’t get snow as much as we get ice. Often the main roads are clear, but the secondary roads are not and so-no school. But people living on main roads get really upset.
http://www.doe.mass.edu/pandemic/faq.html
“Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and All Hazards Planning Frequently Asked Questions 7/26/06
At the five Regional Pandemic Preparedness Summits held in May and June of 2006, questions that were raised by participants in the Primary and Secondary Education Breakout Sessions were recorded and compiled into the following list of Frequently Asked Questions with responses. This section will be updated on a regular basis.
A. The Closing of Schools Is it likely that schools will be closed in case of a pandemic?
Answer: We do not yet know if any schools will be closed, or if so, for how long. The Department of Public Health expects to receive guidance on this issue from the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Any decisions on school closings will be based on the best available public health information. At this point, there is no indication that schools would be closed for an extended period of time. The Departments of Public Health and Education will continue to work together and will keep local boards of health and local school officials informed of the latest developments.
During any sort of infectious disease outbreak, does the local board of health have the authority to close a school where there are children who have been diagnosed with the disease causing the outbreak?
Answer: Yes. Although there is no explicitly stated authority to close schools, the local board of health has broad authority to protect the public health under various laws. M.G.L. c. 111, § 104 provides that when a disease dangerous to public health exists in a town, the board of health shall “use all possible care to prevent the spread of the infection and may give public notice of infected places by such means as in their judgment may be most effectual for the common safety.” M.G.L. c. 111, § 122 requires the board to “examine into all … causes of sickness within its town,” and to “destroy, remove or prevent the same as the case may require …”
Boards of health also recognize that local school officials have broad authority over the public schools. Under M.G.L. c. 71, § 59, the school superintendent has the responsibility to “manage the [school] system in a fashion consistent with state law and the policy determinations of the school committee.” The school committee has “general charge and superintendence of the schoolhouses” under M.G.L. c. 71, § 68. In light of the important responsibilities that local health officials and local school officials have under state law, the board of health should work with the school superintendent and any staff members the superintendent designates, such as the school health director, to develop a plan for communications and school closings when necessary for the protection of public health. Such a plan will enable local officials to provide a safe and orderly response during an infectious disease outbreak in a school.
Will the student learning time requirements be waived if schools are closed for an extended period in a public health emergency?
Answer: The school committee and superintendent must operate the public schools for at least the minimum number of hours and days required by the state regulations on student learning time, 603 CMR 27.00, although they may request a waiver from the Commissioner and Board of Education for good cause, including emergency circumstances that force the closing of one or more schools. If schools must close for an extended period of time in order to comply with a state of emergency declared by the Governor, the Commissioner and Board of Education may determine that a blanket waiver is warranted. Each case will depend on the specific facts presented.
If schools must be closed for two or more weeks due to a public health emergency, will the teachers and other staff still be paid?
Answer: Matters regarding staff compensation and work schedule changes will be governed by the applicable employment contract or collective bargaining agreement.
What will be the impact on a school, if part or all of the building is required to be used as an alternate care site?
Answer: If designation of a school building for emergency use is necessary and appropriate, the school district’s emergency plan and local community’s Emergency Operation Plan should specify how school buildings would be used as alternative sites during a state or local emergency, for housing, medical triage, food distribution or other emergency services. As such, school districts should prepare contingency plans (Continuity of Operation Plans) that outline how education services will be provided if one or more school buildings become unavailable for an extended period.
Must schools be closed if a certain percentage of students and/or staff are absent?
Answer: The decision on school closing is within the discretion of local school officials, except when the local boards of health or state officials declare that one or more schools must be closed due to a public health emergency. Local school officials may decide what level of staff and/or student absences would warrant closing a school or schools for a period of time, taking into account issues of safety and supervision as well as continuity of education.
B. Teaching and Learning If schools are closed for an extended period of time during a pandemic, what resources will be available as alternatives to classroom instruction?
Answer:At this point (Summer 2006), the Department of Public Health does not anticipate that lengthy school closings will be either necessary or required. Consequently, we advise school officials to do some prudent planning, particularly around Continuity of Operation Plans, but without incurring unnecessary expenses. The local planning could include, for example, the preparation of home study materials and expectations for students and parents, to be used in the event of an extended school closing. Home study materials may consist of textbooks and other educational resources for students to use at home, course syllabi, reading lists, sequential lessons and homework assignments for required academic courses, including English language arts, mathematics, social studies and science. Schools might also consider providing lessons on DVD/VHS for use at home or for broadcast on public access-TV with home teaching guides for parents.
The Department of Education is assessing the viability of using MassONE (the Massachusetts Online Network for Education, http://massone.mass.edu/) to assist school districts in providing instruction for selected grade levels in English language arts, mathematics, science and other subjects in the event that school closings may be necessary.
Is a public school required to provide educational services to a student who is out of school due to illness, isolation or quarantine at home or in the hospital?
Answer: If a physician verifies in writing that a public school student (or a student who has been placed by the public school in a private setting) must remain at home or in a hospital for medical reasons for a period of not less than 14 school days in any school year, then under state regulation 603 CMR 28.03(3)©, the school principal must arrange for provision of educational services to the student in the home or hospital. While the regulation does not require that the fourteen days be consecutive, it does require verification by a physician’s written order. A question and answer guide on implementation of educational services in the home or hospital is available on the Department of Education website at http://www.doe.mass.edu/pqa/ta/hhep_qa.html If a public health emergency compels a quarantine of many students for an extended period of time, the Department of Education would encourage local school officials to explore distance learning options and other alternatives that could help the students keep up with their schoolwork.
C. Communication We want to be sure that we are receiving and sharing consistent and accurate information. Where can we get this information/guidance?
Answer: The Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and All Hazards Planning website was created to provide school adminstrators and the general public with consistent information related to schools. The Department of Education will continue to work with the Department of Public Health and other agencies to update the website as new information becomes available.
How do districts communicate effectively with their parents, staff, first responders and state agencies?
Answer: Clear lines of communication are crucial to a successful response to a crisis. During the planning process, it will be important to establish effective lines of communication among and within state, district, school and community groups. Communication plans are essential before crises occur. When creating a preparedness plan, several communication needs should be addressed:
Use common terminology across a district. Terminology should be the same across schools in a district. In most districts, there is a great deal of mobility from one school to another, for both staff and students. The use of consistent language is advised.
Identify several modes of communication for both internal and external communication. Keep in mind that in times of crisis, computers, intercoms, telephones, and even cell phones may not work or may be dangerous to use. Plan for several methods of communication in a crisis.
Make sure that schools have adequate supplies of communication gear and that appropriate individuals have access to it. One school’s crisis plan, for example, calls for the principal to immediately grab a backpack containing a cell phone and a 6–10 walkie-talkie. Communication gear is of no use if no one can access it.
Verify that school communication devices are compatible with emergency responder devices. A cell phone or two-way radio is of no use if it cannot be used with the emergency responder’s phone or radio. Also, check to see that the school’s communication devices do not interfere with the emergency responder’s equipment.
Create communication plans to notify families that a crisis has occurred at their child’s school. These pathways should include several modes of communication, including notices sent home and phone trees, so the pathways can be tailored to fit the needs of a particular crisis. For example, it may be appropriate in some crises to send a notice home, while other crises require immediate parental notification. Use these pathways throughout the planning process to encourage parental input and support.
Establish communication pathways with the community. This may be in the form of a phone or e-mail tree, a community liaison or media briefings. It is crucial to keep the community informed before, during, and after a crisis.
Designate a public information officer (PIO) to deal with families, the community and the media. The designation of one individual will help all parties stay informed with consistent information.
Provide information during the recovery phase. Communication often stops after a crisis subsides. However, during the recovery phase, keeping staff and community informed remains critical.
How should the local media be involved in planning?
Answer: Local media should be involved in planning to insure accurate and consistent communication to the public. Each school district should identify a public information officer to be the sole source of information. Local media can be used to keep the public informed and updated on the district’s Preparedness and Continuity of Operation Plans in the event of pandemic influenza or other crisis.
D. Health and Well Being Can transmission of a communicable disease, such as mumps, be prevented if a non-immunized, asymptomatic child wears a surgical mask at school?
Answer: The Department of Public Health advises that surgical masks are not a practical or effective way to prevent the spread of diseases from the respiratory route on an “8 hours per day, 5 days per week” (often for several days or weeks) basis. Any time a person removes the mask to eat, drink, cough, wipe or blow their nose, s/he is infectious or potentially infectious. In addition, because some of these diseases are spread by direct contact, any time a potentially infectious person touches his or her respiratory secretions and inanimate objects, the person could contaminate those objects, making them potential sources for transmission. Other factors that make surgical masks ineffective in these situations are the average person’s lack of training in sterile technique as well as the age of some potentially infectious individuals.
Will the Department of Education supply masks, gloves and sanitizers to public schools?
Answer: No. The Department of Education does not provide these types of supplies to school districts. For information on ways to limit the transmission of respiratory diseases such as influenza, please see the DPH Flu Facts website listed below.” http://www.mass.gov/dph/cdc/epii/flu/flufacts.htm
Contra Costa County is the plan i saw - i think it was the latest - got it from the board of ed in my town - it is a death sentence for our kids
(sorry that was so long - someone shorten it, if that’s a problem.)
Here’s the King County (Seattle) link. I copied an excerpt from their chart — made a few changes for clarity in the format it came out in (couldn’t copy the whole chart) but do go to the actual website to see the real thing — it is very good. Oh, I bolded the relevant parts about schools.
http://www.metrokc.gov/health/pandemicflu/plan/index.htm
find the Pandemic Flu Response Plan, version 12.
Click on Appendix D-2: (Graded Implementation of Social Distancing Measures)
at WHO PHASE 4
(With limited human-to-human transmission of novel influenza virus abroad; small number of local cases may begin appearing, however all are either imported or have clear epidemiologic links to other cases)
Isolation of all cases. Quarantine of close contacts. Recommend King County residents defer travel tocountries or areas of the U.S. impacted bythe novel virus, as per CDC guidance
At WHO PHASE 4
(With limited human-to-human transmission of novel influenza virus in King County; a small number of cases appear without clear epidemiologic links to other cases and/or increased occurrence of influenza among close contacts)
Isolation of all cases. Quarantine of close contacts. Recommend KC residents defer travel to countries or areas of the U.S. impacted by the novel virus, as per CDC guidance. Recommend KC residents avoid close contact with other persons to the extent possible by curtailing travel and nonessential contact with other persons.
At WHO LEVEL 5
(With sustained novel influenza virus transmission in King County with a large number of cases identified)
Isolation of all cases. Close public and private schools (K-12) and large day care centers. Limit social interaction at colleges,universities, and libraries. Direct government and businesses to implement emergency staffing plans.
At WHO LEVEL 5
(As rate of infection continues to increase following school and child care center closures and social distancing in government agencies and businesses.)
Close churches, theaters, stadiums, community centers. Cancel all large public gatherings. Recommend public transit be used only for essential travel.
AT WHO LEVEL 6
(With sustained novel influenza activity in King County with widespread, countywide impact)
Consider suspending government functions not dedicated to pandemic response or critical continuity.
NOTE: So they recommend clsoing elementary schools FIRST, before closing large public gatherings.
“With sustained novel influenza virus transmission in King County with a large number of cases identified) Isolation of all cases. Close public and private schools (K-12) and large day care centers. Limit social interaction at colleges,universities, and libraries. Direct government and businesses to implement emergency staffing plans.”
death sentence.
This is just incredible to me to read…..and we don’t have kids! First I’ll say that I’m REAL glad that someone could answer the questions presented — that’s a real good start. For a school to ‘wait to hear’ from WHO or CDC……..they could wait forever and still not ‘hear’ in time to do anything about minimizing illness.
Whew, I feel for you mothers! I’m glad my cats are ‘homeschooled’.!
The Iowa schools are no better. I went to a meeting held at a high school, most of the audience was part of thier program, they do not plan on closing schools in fact they started out the meeting reassuring the parents that the schools would remain open.
They did not like my questions, I annoyed them. This was back at the end of May during the Karo cluster and they had no clue what was going on. I asked the health officails there about the immune system response to the young and healthy and they told me it wouldn’t happen that only old, sick and the very young would be in danger.
I understand that the school administrators would be uneducated but the Department of Health???
Everyone’s waiting for someone else to tell them what to do so they can blame the “someone else” when TSHTF.
Hillbilly Bill, I work for a university system too, and I have heard the same nonsense from them. They say they have a plan or are working on a plan but of course the mere mortals in the trenches (ie., with lots of public contact with students) are not allowed to see it. And of course they feel that they must hinge all decisions on what our local and/or state Health Departments decide — not that those groups have any real plans either. Sigh. I have a staff of 14 and all of us must work directly with students, faculty, and other staff all day. So if we are told to keep the doors open, we are exposed.
My local school system has absolutely no plan that I know of, either. Nothing on their website, no links, no discussion, no mention of any contingency plans at all. I have already contacted the school board (in the spring) and was told they were developing a plan. Apparently this plan is, like the major highways around here. still “under construction”.
Hillbilly Bill- Sorry I am so long in replying. I agree with your statement that schools may not close in time. I got so emotional it took me 24 hours to calm down. Goju- I thought the same thing about the Contra Costa plan. Death sentence. I am a school principal and so I have been struggling emotionally and professionally with this.
I have talked with the county epidemiologist, through an intermediary. I think that my school district will respond more rationally than most and close us down. There is a good chance they will. If not, I go to Plan B.
Plan B: I will use my vast network of gossip mongers, excuse me, parents and staff, to communicate that I do not think that it is safe to be at school. Anything I say unofficially gets communicated at light speed, versus official statements, which often go ignored.
Then, I will march my happy a— home. My hope is that I will pied piper everybody out of the building. I will tell my supervisors that I am unable to provide a safe environment for my kids and staff.
And so I am prepared to trash my career. If I overeact and nothing happens, I’ll be teaching English to a bunch of hard heads. (If I live.) If I am tragically right, I think that they will forgive me.
It’s not a great plan, but it’s the best I can come up with.
Goju at 16:19
As bad as that quote from the King County Pandemic plan may sound, it is FAR better than what most schools seem to have planned. As their plan stands, they will close elementary and secondary schools BEFORE a WHO Level 6 — i.e. before a pandemic is declared. It seems most other school districts currently plan to wait until there is some kind of declaration of a pandemic. They could be waiting for months. Or they think they will wait until they are sure that this influenza visus is in fact affecting kids and teachers — and bus drivers — when it becomes a staffing problem. I saw some plan that said something like, we will wait until 30% of our students are infected.
In that context, saying you will close schools BEFORE there is even an offical declaration of a pandemic seems at least on the right course to me.
And so, my friends, we must inform school and district officials of the threat. Regardless of how they react, go for it. They may not act like they believe it at first. However, once the seed is planted, it may grow.
Especially heart stopping for me is the distribution of fatalities by age group.
Some posters are intimating that schools may stay open to placate parents. True, we like to keep parents happy.
However, we are bred to safeguard other people’s children as our own. The people who are at the district office have passed through our ranks and have lived this too. Our job is more dangerous, in some instances, that is commonly known. So any district that does respond appropriately to the threat is likely guiltly of ignorance rather than cowardice.
It’s time for Wikians to, as we say in the profession, “Teach ‘em up.” People learn through repetiton. Show your educators the score, now.
Check out the “Goju Needs Help” thread for some good resources to share with your school people.
Goju, thank you for your hard work! You are a Wiki Wonder.
prepperbabe - what would you tell the county - when would you shut down?
Prepperbabe - Bless your conviction. I’m just a lowly teacher, and the administrators at my school already know to cross the street when they see me coming. I’ve been gently encouraging my kids in class to investigate a coming pandemic on their own; I’ve steered them to the wiki at times under the guise of watching how a respectful sharing of differences of opinion can expand the thoughts of everyone involved. We “inevitably” end up talking about AI.
You’ve actually encouraged me to keep trying to get these guys to see what’s coming. There’s got to be someone here that has a mind to listen, and who cares about the lives of these kids as you do.
prepperbabe – at 17:44
Bless you for caring more about your “kids” than your school’s funding or even your career. I guess you are in a public school? Do you think private schools will respond any differently? Also, what concerns me are the legal implications for those of us that decide to pull our kids from school and don’t have a homeschool program set up. My guess is that there will be so many people, including teachers and administrators, sick that it will become difficult, if not impossible, to keep schools open and chase down and prosecute people who are not sending their kids. My oldest just began kindergarten, so at the first sign of efficient H-H, I’m pulling her from K and my 2yo from daycare. Hopefully I will be able to work my current job from home, but if not, I’ll quit. What concerns me is what my husband will do as he teaches at a local college and I’m sure there are no plans to close, but I know he won’t want to take a chance on infecting our kids.
Having been a teacher for 28 years, I have a few comments to make. First, in response to: giraffe – at 19:05 “At the beginning of this school year, the county health nurse spoke briefly about the possibility of a flu pandemic at our blood borne pathogens training. She even had an exercise to bring it a little closer to home. After she handed out the notes to all, she told us that she had something on her hands (some kind of powdery residue) that was deposited on the papers as she gave them to us. She made an analogy to the “stuff” being bacteria or viral…or the “bug”, and then passed around a black light to demonstrate where the germs had landed. It showed up on people’s faces, hands, arms, clothing, etc. “
This is an excellent technique to explain how germs spread. The product used can be purchased online. For young children this technique works well with using glitter on the envelope or on a teddybear that is passed around. Have them check each other. Great way to teach germ theory to your own kids, too.
Second, there is real power in your school’s PTA. Call the president and ask to meet. Present the facts and your concerns. If you can get this one person to agree you will be amazed at what can happen. I have seen Principals and school boards back down from poor policies with the parent pressure. They are also key for mailings to parents. There is a real chance now to change some attitudes about a pandemic. Please take the time to get involved. Schools are incubation sites for the development of viral and bacterial infections. Let’s hope they are not allowed to become amplification points for H5N1 as well.
ST
Goju- I would tell the county that we cannot provide a safe environment. The “When” part is the hardest. Efficient H2H in U.S.- possible abandon ship. Case in our state linked to H2H- pretty definite abandon ship. Case in our city- the lifeboats are in the water and we are gone.
But Goju, principals have no authority to really close a school. Anything we would do along those lines would be unsanctioned. And subject to discipline. Oh well. Risk the lives of everyone I am responsible for? Not happening.
Ree and tjclaw- you are very kind. I appreciate your support. ST- I agree that PTA can be a huge help in protecting kids. You and Ree are so smart to involve your students.
Ree- you’re not a lowly teacher- you are where it’s at. If I’m out of the building with no replacement, things carry on well because my staff is super smart. I’m just a teddy bear they keep because I make them feel secure. But if you are gone, the day is trashed. %) Oh yeah.
Regarding chasing people who are “truant”- as you said, there will be so many absences that nobody will be able to follow up. I think the State Attorney’s office will have much bigger fish to fry if TSHTF.
I wish I could cry, but there’s not enough time. Must snatch the cheese and flex, as the kids say. Hang tough.
InfoLady – at 17:26
Both my wife and I work in offices that have face-to-face contact with students all day long. I am VERY concerned about being in close contact as we have a large and diverse student body. Regular flu goes through the school like sh** through a goose.
We both have large amounts of sick time. If it looks like panflu is loose and spreading, we are staying home. By the time we have to either come back to work or present a drs. slip we will know for sure one way or the other.
prepperbabe – at 17:44 - I admire your courage and conviction. Doing the right thing, no matter how difficult, is truly noble. If it is a pandemic, I’m thinking that there will be plenty of work for all of us who survive.
Fortunately, I know the local State’s Attorney very well and he also has young children. He’s got bigger fish to fry than chasing down parents who are not sending their kids to school because of fear of them being infected with panflu.
Bless you, prepperbabe. You are my kind of leader. How about some words in the ears of teacher union leaders? Our teacher unions here are very powerful and them clamoring for a white paper on the district’s postion on keeping staff safe during a deadly pandemic could start the wheels of power turning.
In my experience “keeping parents happy” comes behind “keeping district staff safe” — and rightly so.
Science Teacher — do you know the name of the powder and/or the name of a company that sells it?
I’m with Hillbilly Bill! I don’t think my coworkers are going to listen until it is toooooo late…..and it is slappin’ them in the face. I will be using my sick time at the very hint of the start of things. Even my doctor’s office put me off when I tried to discuss the matter with them so—I decided it is better to keep to myself my thoughts on this matter, rather than be labeled as paranoid. Living in a extremely small town, any negatives thoughts could be across town and back three times over in less than an hour…lol.
Olymom, a company called ‘glo-germ’ sells the product. They also sell full kits with the the blacklight flashlight included.
giraffe — I can’t blame you for not wanting to stick your neck out again and discuss the issue with anyone.
I do believe that things are changing though.
I just bumped into several old threads on the subject of schools. I don’t know how to make the links, but they are titled: close the schools or not and close the schools or not II. They are interesting reading too.
I didn’t mean to create a duplicate thread, but based on everyone’s input here, I’m glad I did. Thanks to all and keep those ideas, insights and comments coming!
I too have met with lack of “getting it”. Our plan is to close when we have a confirmed case. I have tried to educate the school board, superintendent, etc. to no avail. I plan on pulling my kid as soon as it gets to the US. I have been outspoken in what is lacking in the plan. Unfortunately, here we need to go in the “chain of command”. I have no doubt that our emergency manager is starting to pick up the pace, but we are planning for vaccinations. How about making the public aware and then plan on vaccinations as that is how we all know it will go down.
If Goju’s comments are on the money from the summit and TPTB are in the know maybe more should be done to educate, even if it is secret meetings with the schools. Just as long as the info is spread.
Came in to work today to discover that flu season may have already begun here in our little district. A couple of teachers complained of being ill over the weekend…and one of my students has been telling tales of her dad being home sick with the flu with fever and their dog having it too. Dog coughing badly and throwing up. I know that it is not AI, but the combination of the dad and dog being sick at the same time gave me a bit of a chill.
Wouldn’t hurt to have homeschooling materials on hand - one would have the option of withdrawing one’s children from school to homeschool them when a pandemic begins. I’m a teacher, so my job, as I figure it, is to enlighten the district, which has some absurd plan about staying open until a certain percentage of the student body falls sick.
InKy- I teach at the elementary level, but my daughter is a sophomore. A few months back I copied all of the high school level state standards from our state’s webiste. I figure if I have to homeschool, I better know what is expected at her level…with college around the corner and all. I have even surfed lesson plans for lit. units and purchased novels to match. We are in the process of adding SAT/ACT prep materials to the list, as well.
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced today (8/30/2006) the award of over $23 million in grants to 74 school districts in 26 states to help them enhance and fortify their emergency response and crisis management plans.
“Knowing how to respond in a crisis and the ability to do so quickly is critical to ensuring the safety of our schools and students,” Spellings said. “These grants will help school districts incorporate appropriate methods and procedures in their emergency response plans and will also help them better coordinate with the entire community.”
The Emergency Response and Crisis Management program provides funds to help local education agencies prevent or mitigate, prepare, respond and recover from crises. Funds can be used to train school personnel and students in crisis response; communicate emergency response and reunification procedures to parents and guardians; coordinate with local emergency responders, including fire and police; purchase equipment; and coordinate with groups and organizations responsible for recovery issues, such as health and mental health agencies. “‘This year, school districts must also commit to developing a written plan designed to prepare for a possible infectious disease outbreak, such as influenza pandemic.”’
Giraffe @ 15:50 - It sounds like because of you your daughter will not only keep up she will be ahead of her class. Just an idea - if you have a college in your town there will be used textbook stores where the students sell their books. These books are usually pretty cheap, and some of them are actually also used at the high school level. For instance I know that in Texas some of the U.S. History books are used in 11th grade American History classes. You may even be able to find used SAT and ACT materials. It doesn’t matter if they’re a year or two out of date. Most of the content is repeated every year on the tests. Good luck.
Thanks History Lover. We do have a jr college about 40 miles from us. I was able to locate some materials from my district. We no longer have a high school, but still have plenty of resources (thank goodness for me). I have some very large three ring binders that I have been filling with different resources as I have come across them. Where I am going to run into trouble, I fear, is with calculus and trig…so I am the lookout for reasonably priced self-paced resources in those areas.
I’ve seen on other threads that there are school districts that have a plan…a plan to look at closure when they have 10 percent of students out with flu like symptoms. On one hand, they are at least thinking, which is more than I can say for many, but on the other hand, which 10 percent of students (and their families) would they choose to have a possible death sentence with AI? Obviously we don’t choose who gets sick, but it really does bring it to a personal level when you actually have to visualize those that might be among the ill/casualties.
So, I will ask my school board; which students would you like to see suffer AI before you close the school. I’ll be watching and mine won’t be an option!
The safety precautions farmers must take to keep their flocks safe from avian flu are considerable - keeping them indoors, decontaminating everything, etc. (Others could help me with specifics, I know.) In helping school administrators determine how to think about pandemic flu, it would be best to point out how pandemic flu is different from regular flu and to point out that we’d like to take at least as good care of our children as we do of our chickens. If we are going to isolate poultry, why would we put all of our children together in classrooms where social distancing is impossible and contagion inevitable?
State legislatures need to create a mechanism whereby, in the event of pandemic flu, all public school students automatically become “homebound students” sent home with an 8-week course of study to follow, at the first indication that pandemic flu may become a local or regional threat. (Need a tipping point recommended by CDC - don’t leave this for local school boards to divine.) Homebound students are not counted absent once their homebound status begins. Admitted, the course of study would likely fall by the wayside if the pandemic is severe, but so will everything else. The work would be “due” at the end of the 8-week period or whenever the state deems it safe for schools to reopen. (I frankly wouldn’t be concerned about the work - I’d be more interested in having a plan that ensures students are released to homebound status in time to save lives, and I think “the work” might well include or even focus on what students families need to know to maximize their chances for survival. I’d be handing the stuff out now, if I could.)
I wish we had some visionary leadership on such matters from the national level, but I don’t think we’d better wait for it.
Inky From what Im seeing from TPTB the focus seems to be keeping the economy up as long as possible. The second tier focus seems to be maintaining order.
If the schools were to close as soon as AF is on our shores TPTB would be admitting that there was a serious problem. That doesnt further either of there above goals. Never mind that it would save lives - childrens lives. The priorities of TPTB are not the same as you or I.
Ive talked to local officials and my superiors at work till Im blue, hasnt changed a thing. I gave up. I applaud all of you who keep trying. I applaud those of you who even when faced with career ending decisions decide to do the right thing.
Wonder what ripple effect the US Dept of Ed webcast will have in the coming month…
bump! http://www.connectlive.com/events/ednews/ “Keeping our Children Safe and Secure: Pandemic Flu and Emergency Preparedness”
US Dept of Ed. Pandemic Planning Guide for Educators
From the news thread:
…”About 250 students have gone home sick with flu-like symptoms at two schools and several child-care centers this week. There will be no school Thursday, Friday and Monday. Tuesday is a teacher workday, so students will return to class next Wednesday, November 8th. The Yancey County Health Department is waiting for test results to come back to determine if it is the flu. If that happens, Yancey will be the first county in North Carolina to have confirmed flu cases this season.”
will close due to Forum speed. Restart a new thread if needed.