West Alabama School District cancels class because of flu

LAMAR COUNTY, Al. (WCBI)- Flu season is in full swing and it’s hitting many schools in our viewing area, including in Lamar County, Alabama.

This week alone, more than 300 students in the Lamar County School District were absent due to an illness.

As a result, district leaders canceled classes on Friday.

“We just thought that it would be best to take this day and let our students out and get a three day weekend and try and get some of this sickness out of our schools and get some cleaning done,” said District Superintendent Vance Herron.

From wiping down walls, to mopping floors, to sanitizing the desks, teachers spent their morning giving the school a deep cleaning.

“They’ve come in and they’re going through the buildings sanitizing it real good, cleaning all of the restrooms, classrooms, wiping down the desks and lockers, and just really sterilizing the building real good,” said Herron.

This past week, the Lamar County School District saw a little more than 13 percent of its students miss school.

That rate was over 15 percent in some schools throughout the district.

In all, 311 students were out sick this week.

“We love our kids, we want them to be here, but they can’t learn if you’re not at school,” said Vernon Elementary School Principal Tracey Walker.  “It’s hard to teach when 20 percent of your students aren’t here. It’s hard to go on when half the class isn’t here.”

“We’re not sure if all of them are flue symptoms, we’re not sure if all of them have the flu,” Herron expressed. “We do know that the flu is going around and we’re just trying to take measures to make sure we’re keeping our kids as healthy and safe as we can.”

Herron has worked in the district for more than two decades, and said he’s never seen sickness sweep through the schools quite like this.

However, to help keep the sick bug in check, Herron has some advice for parents of sick children.

“If our students are sick and running a fever, we don’t need parents sending them to school,” the superintendent explained. “They need to be 24 hours free of fever before they’re brought back to school, also if the doctor tells you to stay out five days, stay out those five days even if you get to feeling better, take those five days.”

Herron said classes will resume on Monday.

However,  if students haven’t gotten over their illness, district leaders are recommending they stay at home until they’ve fully recovered.