The Anaconda School District plans to hold makeup class days for the time that was lost when the schools closed because so many students were sick with the flu.
More than a quarter of the students were out sick on Oct. 9, 13 and 14, prompting the schools to cancel classes.
The district extended its first quarter to Friday. Students will be in school Nov.12 with parent-teacher conferences moved to that evening and on Nov. 13 with an early release time. Students will also be in school on Jan. 22 and Feb. 15, days that were originally scheduled off to observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Presidents' Day.
The school board must approve the changes.
(From the archives)
Anaconda schools were back in business Monday but will not reopen Tuesday and Wednesday because so many students are sick with the flu.
The schools were closed Friday after multiple cases of the flu were reported in the district. They reopened Monday, but 315 students, or 28 percent of the student population, is out sick, Anaconda Public Schools Superintendent Tom Darnell said. This has prompted the district to cancel classes for two more days.
"Due to the continuation of high student absenteeism rates because of the flu season, the District has canceled all classes Tuesday and Wednesday, October 13th and 14th," according to a news release from Darnell.
Students will also not attend classes on Thursday and Friday due to annual professional development conferences that had been previously scheduled for those days. Schools are expected to reopen Monday, Oct. 19.
Extracurricular activities have not been canceled at this time. However, the high school principal and athletic director will monitor student participation and absenteeism rates each day and could possibly cancel activities as warranted, the news release states.
In a memo issued by Darnell's office last week, the district explained said it has a threshold of 25 percent, meaning that if 25 percent of the students are absent the schools close because it is a significant disruption in the classroom and with extracurricular activities.
(From Oct. 8, 2009)
Schools in the Anaconda School District will not open Friday after multiple cases of H1N1 flu were reported there.
The total number of students affected by the virus is not available at this time, but the district is reporting that about 25 percent of the students at most schools are absent.
In a memo distributed by Superintendent Tom Darnell's office, the district said it has a threshold of 25 percent, meaning that if 25 percent of the students are absent the schools close because it is a significant disruption in the classroom and with extracurricular activities.
The school district is suggesting parents arrange for childcare for young children on Monday as the possibility exists that classes may not resume.
Athletics in the district will be affected as well. The football team will forfeit its varsity game against Hamilton on Friday, Athletic Director Allen Green said. The school will try to reschedule the Deer Lodge and Corvallis volleyball game.
Also, Anaconda will not participate in the Dillon Invitational cross country meet. However, the school district will allow its golfers to participate in the Class A State Championship on Monday and Tuesday.
Other area school districts are also being hit hard by the flu.
On Wednesday, the Butte-Silver Bow Health Department reported dozens of students were out with the flu. At East Junior High School 140 to 150 students, or 27 percent of the student population, were absent with symptoms of the H1N1 flu.
So far, the H1N1 virus is the only known sickness circulating in the area, Butte-Silver Bow Assistant Health Officer Karen Billson.
Butte Schools Superintendent Linda Reksten says administrators are not considering closing the schools. Instead, they are thoroughly cleaning the buildings and are trying to keep kids who are sick at home.
Schools in Granite and Beaverhead counties are also reporting a loss in students due to the virus.
Meanwhile, Bozeman schools are reporting less than a dozen cases of the students experiencing flu-like symptoms.
The school district had 10 unconfirmed cases of flu-like symptoms in the last two weeks, Bozeman Schools Assistant Superintendent Marilyn King said Thursday afternoon.
King said the school has assembled a committee to address the flu and students are being talked to about health etiquette.
