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Todd Wilhelmi uses bleach and water to disinfect surfaces at Minooka Junior High School. The process is repeated every day in an effort to help keep students healthy despite the prevalence of seasonal and H1N1 flu this year. (Herald Photo by Heidi Terry-Litchfield)

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Local school districts are reacting in different fashions to the H1N1 threat.

Minooka Grade School District 201, the only local district with a laboratory-confirmed case of H1N1. has stepped up its cleaning schedule, with custodians working overtime in an effort to keep the virus at bay.

Parents of the student confirmed to have H1N1 themselves paid for the extra test to be done, while other area children reporting to the doctor are simply being swabbed for Influenza A, of which H1N1 is a sub-group.

To confirm H1N1, a swab would need to be sent for further testing, which typically isn’t being done due to cost and the fact the current influenza virus predominant in the area is the H1N1 sub- group.

With the treatments for both seasonal flu and H1N1 flu being the same, parents are able to treat their children without knowing the difference and schools are able to take precautions for both at the same time.

Jerry Blair, head of maintenance for District 201 said the cleaning of the school is no different than it is throughout the year, it’s just more of it, more often.

“We started about three or four years ago bleaching surfaces as a response to the flu that was being spread at the time,” Blair said. “We normally rotate what gets bleached every couple of weeks, but now we are doing it every day.”

He said they are using an aerosol spray on whatever can’t be wiped with the bleach water they are using on desks, tables, door knobs, light switches, and any other solid surface.

“Keyboards that can’t be wiped off we are spraying with a disinfectant,” he said. “Rooms that have a high absent rate, we are disinfecting with a fogger.”

The air filters have also been changed more often and the filtration devices run extra time in an effort to keep the children healthy.

On an average day, before absence rates reached 10 percent in the district, Blair said the custodial staff would sweep the floor and dump the garbage daily and spot mop in each classroom. Today, the staff is wiping every desk with bleach water, and cleaning ledges, chairs and any solid surface.

Al Gegenheimer, superintendent for District 201, said they stepped up cleaning after they heard of the death of a 14-year-old in Naperville.

“They are sterilizing every surface every night, not just at school, but also on the school buses,” he said. “The bus drivers are wiping down their seats for both their morning and afternoon runs.”

Gegenheimer said the district has also sent home notes to the parents informing them what to do if they suspect their child has the virus.

Morris Dist. 54

Teri Shaw, superintendent of Morris Grade School District 54, said informing parents is their main plan of action.

“We have sent letters home to the parents suggesting things such as the three C’s,” she said.

Shaw said they monitor any time the absentee rates reach over 10 percent in the district.

“One day we were at 10 percent, but 60 were flu like symptoms and the other 30 were other reasons, including dentist appointments,” she said.

Shaw said the district’s average attendance rate is at 95 to 96 percent, which is in line with most area school districts.

She said the district took a proactive stance at White Oak, where teachers were given sanitizing spray and asked to clean the desks, switches and door knobs daily.

“At Shabbona, where we’ve seen nine and 10 percent absentee rates, the principal has given Clorox wipes to each of the teachers,” Shaw said.

Shaw said there were also hand wipes to use at lunch at White Oak and the teachers have been emphasizing to students the importance of washing hands.

“We are totally promoting the kids wash their hands,” Shaw said. “The downstairs classes at White Oak have washrooms and hand washing sinks right in the room.”

Coal City Dist. 1

Coal City Unit District 1 Superintendent Dr. Kent Bugg said that, in comparison to other area schools, their absentee rates are not very high.

On the day he was interviewed, Bugg said out of the five schools in the district, 6 percent absent was the highest rate, and over the course of the year, 11 percent is the highest any of his schools have seen.

“We are monitoring attendance and are doing level-one disinfecting,” Bugg said.

He said they are doing top-to-bottom disinfecting of the buildings if they reach a 10 percent absentee level, which has occurred at the early childhood center and the Intermediate School.

Bugg said he believes the low rate of absences is due to the custodians doing a good job.

“The custodians do a good job of proactive cleaning,” he said.

Bugg also believes sending letters to parents and informing them of what to watch for is the best thing to do in the battle of the virus.

“I don’t think we can avoid it,” he said. “But we can tell them what precautions to take.”
 

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