Flu not affecting local school attendance

Local News

October 20, 2009

By CHRIS HARRIS and TRICIA NEAL, Staff Writers The Commonwealth Journal Tue Oct 20, 2009, 07:56 PM EDT

Somerset — If you’re a student hoping school will be called off for the flu so you don’t have to take that big test ... you’re out of luck.

Superintendents for all three local public school systems say that as of right now, no nasty bugs are threatening to cancel classes, and that schools are maintaining relatively high attendance rates, despite rumors apparently circulating like germs, saying that school will be called off.

Pulaski County Schools Assistant Superintendent Sonya Wilds said that the county’s largest district is running about 90 percent attendance. That’s a pretty good average for every high school, middle school, and elementary school in the district. Only Oak Hill is significantly lower, its rate hovering in the mid-80s.

“We’re staying aware of illnesses and viruses going forward and watching the situation, but (attendance) is not lower than normal,” said Wilds.

It would take schools falling into the 80-85 percent attendance range to call off school most of the time. Wilds says these cases have to be monitored “day by day” during flu season, particularly with the H1N1 virus, or “swine flu,” making the rounds.

Somerset Independent Schools are faring only slightly worse — still not enough to warrant closure. Somerset Superintendent Dr. Teresa Wallace said attendance in her district is still in the upper-80 percent range.

“If it drops to 80 percent, we’ll start considering it,” she said.

Science Hill Independent School Superintendent Rick Walker said his one-school district has “been real lucky,” and the numbers prove him right. The school is currently seeing 95.8 percent attendance in grades K-8. That’s compared to the average 97 percent — or a dozen students absent — on a normal day.

Walker said his school is working hard to do everything that’s recommended to keep kids germ-free, coaching them on coughing or sneezing into their sleeves rather than their hands or another surface, using hand sanitizers, and staying home if sick. Hand sanitizers are made available and desks are regularly cleaned with disinfectant, he said.

Walker also said he’d do use the one-call system to let Science Hill parents know attendance is good and thank them for helping keep their young ones virus-free.

“Right now, this is a happy, healthy environment,” said Walker. “We’re trying to do all the right things. It’s easier when you’re at a small place (like this school) to be on top of everything.”

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Pulaski carries Girdler to win

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary election, it was impossible to miss the colorful signs dotting nearly every Pulaski roadway. The names in the race for the 15th State Senatorial District seat popped out: A.C. Donahue. Chris Girdler. Mark Polston.

Once citizens hit the ballots, however, the results mirrored the dimensions of the signs themselves: Chris Girdler stood the tallest.

Girdler, deputy district director for Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers, ran away with the votes inside Pulaski County’s borders, earning 3,926 votes for 62.05 percent of the total number cast.

That number more than doubled the next highest vote-getter, businessman Mark Polston, who raked in 1,624 votes for 25.67 percent.

However, Polston — who owns Classic Carpet, a home-flooring business located just off the southern 914 bypass — can claim a moral victory ... three of them, in fact. In all three counties in the district other than Pulaski — those being Adair, Casey, and Russell Counties — Polston actually edged out Girdler.

In Adair, Polston beat Girdler 629 to 394. In Casey County, it was 538 to 417, and in Russell, it was 1,862 to 1,038.

Polston said he just “couldn’t pull it out with the numbers” and that “the machine worked for” Girdler in Pulaski County.

“I think that was their strategy — I think they had a Pulaski County strategy all along,” said Polston. “They played the political game well.”

Polston said the difference between his and Girdler’s campaigns was that “mine was a very, very grass roots campaign,” he said. “I did not have a political machine behind me. I understand how this process works, and in this instance, he prevailed.”

As for why Girdler didn’t take three of four counties, the winning candidate — since there are no Democrats in the race, winning the Republican primary was effectively a final victory for Girdler — said he didn’t have an answer for that.

However, “I believe things happen for a reason and I hope the long and strenuous campaign will only heighten my desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past,” said Girdler.

“Regionalism is a goal of mine, and I look forward to helping all four counties,” he added, noting that he campaigned heavily in each of them.

Sen. Vernie McGaha, the long-time state senator whose seat the candidates were vying for, actually supported Polston after Liberty’s Todd Hoskins dropped out of the race earlier this month.

Donahue, a local attorney, got 556 votes in Pulaski County, 8.79 percent of the vote. He only received 145 votes in Russell County, 74 in Adair County, and 75 in Casey County, where hometown candidate Hoskins almost matched him with 71 votes despite no longer being officially in the race.

Polston said he’s “still digesting” what happened, and though “the process has been a very good experience for me,” he wouldn’t commit to running again in the future. “I wouldn’t shut the door to anything, but I’m not opening any doors either.”

Still, “I think I got a lot of people involved in the process that had not been involved before and would not have been otherwise,” he said. “A lot of people got out and worked really hard, got motivated to talk to friends and neighbors. I think a lot of people became involved through this campaign that are going to be involved for a long time.”

Girdler stressed his “positive message” and said that Rogers is a “mentor and good friend” that he would turn to for advice in dealing with a frequently combative legislative body in Frankfort, one for which Girdler hopes to help change the culture.

Girdler said that he was “confident and optimistic” during the day Tuesday because he’d “worked extremely hard.” Nevertheless, the realization that he’d won gave him “chill bumps,” he said.

“I’m absolutely honored,” said Girdler. “The position of state senator is more than an honor, more than an office. It’s a charge to keep, and I will give it my all.

“I pledge to be the people’s state senator,” he added. “I look forward to working with everyone to move this region forward.”

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