Swine flu prompts school closings

In response to an apparent uptick of H1N1 cases, also known as swine flu, all Macon County Schools closed Thursday afternoon. No other area schools have reported closings or changes to their schedules.

“I know we have a number of confirmed swine flu cases in our school system,” said Macon County School Board President Alfonso G. Robinson said. “Exactly how many, I’m not sure of at this time, but we’re taking this step to, hopefully, get a heads up on something that seems to be running rampant through our school system.”

The decision to temporarily close Macon County’s public schools was made Wednesday afternoon, Robinson said, adding that while the schools are closed, school maintenance workers will give all schools a thorough cleaning.

Classes are scheduled to resume on Monday, Robinson said.

The Macon Public County School system is comprised of the Alternative Learning Center, Booker T. Washington High School, D.C. Wolfe School, George Washington Carver Elementary School, Lewis Adams School: Head start Program, Notasulga High School, Tuskegee institute and Tuskegee Public School.

In Lee County, there has been at least one confirmed case of swine flu in the Auburn City School system as of Wednesday, according to Auburn City Schools public relations director Lynda Rainer. That one confirmed case was at Ogletree Elementary School, Rainer said.

“Our school nurses are on top of the situation and we’ll continue to follow any and all instructions we receive from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention),” Rainer said.

A similar course of action is being followed in the Opelika City School system, where 18 to 25 students have exhibited flu-like symptoms, according to Opelika City Schools superintendent Dr. Mark Neighbors.

“At this point, three parents have informed Opelika school officials that after taking their child to the doctor, that what their child had was in fact H1N1,” Neighbors said.

In addition to monitoring any instructions from state and federal health officials, some precautions, such as, extra cleaning and sterilization of areas in the school are being taken by Opelika City School personnel, Neighbors said.

Lee County Schools have reported four cases of swine flu throughout the system as of Thursday, according to superintendent Dr. Stephen Nowlin. Other than making sure that ill students or those with flu-like symptoms stay at home, Lee County Schools have made no changes to schedules or activities, Nowlin said. However, the school system is taking precautions, such as having school personnel use a targeted disinfectant to clean school areas.

Auburn University has six potential cases of swine flu, said Mike Clardy, an AU spokesperson.