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In response to the rising number of cases of swine flu (H1N1 virus) that have affected numerous U.S. schools, NAESP created a flu prevention page on its Web site. On it you will find a special edition of Report to Parents titled “Key Facts About Swine Flu,” printed in both English and Spanish, that principals can distribute to their parents. Also on the page is a link to the U.S. Department of Education’s Web site that offers guidance to school leaders about the H1N1 virus, a Communicator article titled “Principals Urged to Plan for Possible Flu Pandemic,” updated reports about federal action taking place on Capitol Hill, and additional valuable resources.
As of Monday, the Associated Press reports that up to 330,000 students nationwide have missed school as a result of closings related to the H1N1 virus. Tell us how probable and/or confirmed swine flu cases have affected schools in your district.
In our area, Texas, many schools and districts closed for as long as a week. This caused a disruption in state testing, field trips, high school play-off games, student presentations, and staff travel for professional development. We are slowly unwinding from the episode and are wondering what the state will do in planning for the next round of flu season.
Posted by: Mark Terry | May 30, 2009 at 11:53 AM
Although my school in particular did not close, we did have another school in a neighboring district close. This and other contributing factors prompted a letter to go home to parents. This letter advised parents to keep their child home for one week if the child had a fever of over 100.1 degrees, plus one of the many other symptoms listed. We had several students who were out for a week. This was just precautionary as we did not have any students with the swine flue but it did present a new set of problems for us. We had many students miss not only one day of a three day mandated state assessment but many who missed two and three days. Test make-ups were a bear to schedule, students were pulled during valuable instructional time to make up the assessments. Classroom support and resource specialists were also pulled to provide the personnel necessary to administer the tests. We need to think more about our assessment windows for mandated testing and our plans for students to make up lost academic instruction.
Posted by: Annette Miller | June 30, 2009 at 09:49 PM
In Pennsylvania, a teacher who is interested in becoming a principal and obtaining the certification must have taught for five years. I agree with the article that in order to become a principal, a person must have some teaching experience. A future administrator has to know what works in a classroom, how students learn, the type of programs that work and those that do not and these are just a few. Once a teacher has experienced the classroom, they will then be ready to tackle being a principal, but in order to lead teachers, a principal must understand from where they are coming.
Posted by: kpetruska | July 02, 2009 at 07:30 PM
H1N1 (referred to as “swine flu” early on) is a new influenza virus causing illness in people. Symptoms of swine flu are similar to those caused by other influenza viruses. Health authorities across the globe are taking steps to try to stem the spread of swine flu after outbreaks in Mexico and the United States. The World Health Organization has called it a "public health emergency of international concern."
Posted by: Sujan Patricia | July 23, 2009 at 02:20 PM