Pulaski schools faring well in battle against flu

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October 29, 2009

By CHRIS HARRIS, Staff Writer The Commonwealth Journal Thu Oct 29, 2009, 09:05 PM EDT

Somerset — Pulaski County Schools are battling the flu — but they aren’t losing.

The county school district has not yet approached the threshold for calling off school in the wake of mass absences for sickness. Asst. Superintendent Sonya Wilds said attendance is lower than normal, about 87 percent, but that’s only seven percent off the normal rate (94 percent on an average day).

In fact, Wilds offered those numbers on Wednesday. By Thursday, attendance had actually grown by about 2 percent — a sign that, even with fears about the H1N1 virus running rampant, things may be getting better, suggested Superintendent Tim Eaton. Approximately nine out of every 10 students is attending school — which, if parents are doing their job, should mean the child is healthy.

“If it gets down to around 70 percent or so, we’ll consider canceling classes,” said Eaton, “but we aren’t anywhere near that yet.”

A 94 percent attendance rate means the district normally has over 500 students absent on any given day with a variety of illnesses, said Wilds. In addition, it is not uncommon to drop to the 90 percent mark at different times throughout the year due to illnesses, inclement weather, and holidays.

“Lower than normal attendance is a statewide issue right now with superintendents,” said Wilds. “Our local attendance has been lower than normal ever since school started back in August for several reasons.

“First, we have seen a variety of illnesses and viruses, including the flu and illness with flu like symptoms, much earlier than we normally do,” she continued. “Second, because of the intense attention to H1N1 since the spring, parents have been much more likely to take children to their health care providers and keep children home more so than usual. Third, school personnel, school nurses, and community health care providers have been much more diligent in efforts of keep children exhibiting any illness symptoms at home for longer periods of time.”

Some parents have contacted the Commonwealth Journal recently, suggesting that the school should contact the families of children who have been in class with someone who has had the flu. Eaton said it would likely be illegal to inform or suggest to others that a specific child has had the sickness due to privacy laws, and moreover, the school can’t confirm whether or not a child has the flu — that’s a job for a medical professional.

“A child may cough in class, and it’s just a cough,” said Eaton. “It may not be the flu. We don’t know.”

As always, parents are advised to keep children home from school if they’re sick. Attentiveness at home can help prevent the spread of the virus at school. Other preventative measures advised include regularly washing hands and using hand sanitizer, and couching or sneezing into one’s sleeves and not one’s hands or another surface.

Wilds assured parents that the school is doing everything it can to keep monitor the situation, with influenza — and particularly the so-called “swine flu” — becoming such a hot topic. She said officials are keeping watch on absentee trends, and that many schools are currently within normal range with illnesses being contained to specific locations, such as Oak Hill was last week and now back within normal ranges.

“We understand that parents, school officials, and health care providers are leaning on the side of caution with student illnesses at this time as they have been guided to do,” she said. “As such, we also understand that we do have more absences than usual and will need to be flexible with our district and school attendance policies. There have been discussions with principals to freely use their discretion in applying attendance policies during this time.”

Wilds noted that local health providers acknowledge that containment of the flu will be very difficult until communities build immunity or through vaccinations.

“We were out of school for 12 days for fall break only to see illness more prevalent when we returned,” she said. “Likewise, some districts that have closed for illness have not found widespread relief.”

The Lake Cumberland District Health Department is taking a proactive policy in schools. Beginning next week, the Lake Cumberland District Health Department will begin to provide H1N1 flu clinics within the schools. Initially the elementary schools will be targeted. The middle schools will be targeted after the elementary schools and the high schools will be targeted last.

As the clinics begin in the schools, all children in the elementary schools will be offered the vaccine. The vaccine is free of charge. The school nurse will send home a letter to the parent or guardian explaining the specifics about the school clinic, a vaccine information sheet, and the consent to receive the vaccine at the school.

Parents will not have to be present for the student to receive the vaccine. We will need an alternate site to administer the vaccine such as the gym or a central location. The school nurse will continue to provide the daily duties required at the site.

“The vaccine is allocated to the health department from the state,” said Monica Hall, LCDHD nurse administrator. “There is still some uncertainty regarding the amount of vaccine the health department will receive and the ship date. Due to the allocation procedures, this is why we will initially target elementary schools. I will contact superintendents (and) board hired nurses as we plan clinics within their district.”

Wilds knows well the stresses that parents go through trying to make sure that their kids stay safe and healthy. The schools are doing the best job they can, and people are advised not to panic over flu reports, but rather stay diligent in protecting themselves against the nasty bug.

“We understand that illness causes financial and emotional strain on families,” said Wilds. “However, closing schools also cause great financial and emotional strains when families have to deal with childcare and work related issues. In times like this, there are no perfect solutions or decisions.”

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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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