How Lake Hamilton School District is Preparing to Fight Off the Swine Flu

Everyone is concerned about the swine flu and with reason. It has caused deaths. Just this past week, a school in the same county as mine had a six year old girl die from complications due to the swine flu. My school has had several unconfirmed cases of it, but no deaths as of yet. We hope that we are able to keep it under control as well as other illnesses that tend to float around in schools.

One of the best things Lake Hamilton did, was to install soap dispensers in every room of the school. Each classroom has its own dispenser with a foam-type soap that does not require water. You would think that the students would make a huge mess and just play with it, but they don't. They seem to understand that this is serious and everyone needs to take extra precautions. Most of the students get some going into class and upon leaving class. They are very good at washing their hands after going to the bathroom, as well.

Teachers have had serious class discussions with their students about the importance of hygiene. It's always important, but especially so this year. The students know that if they sneeze or cough, it needs to be done into the crook of the arm, if they do it in their hands, they get up and get some sanitizer. They also know that sharing food and drinks is particularly dangerous.

The janitors have also been taking extra steps to keep everything clean and sanitized. They go around once to twice a day and spray sanitizer on the door handles, water fountain buttons, stair rails, and anything else that a large number of people touch a day.

We are also keeping up with the number of students absent each day. Most of the parents are good about calling the school or e-mailing the teacher to let us know what is wrong with the child. Of course, confidentiality is strictly enforced. It is not told to anyone who has what. If a parent feels people need to know that it is the swine flu, then it is up to them to notify other parents. The parents of the child that passed away at the other school in our county chose to use the school calling system to notify parents of what had happened. They felt people needed to know. The school was not allowed to release the information, but the parent was. I think that is important to keep in mind.

As long as everyone keeps working together, I believe we can keep the majority of our students, staff and teachers healthy this year.