News & Information

As the opening of school approaches, the Whatcom County Health Department asked that we take this opportunity to update you on the current situation with 2009 H1N1 influenza (earlier referred to as “swine flu”) and how it might affect school operations. Typically, influenza outbreaks occur no earlier than mid-December. This year, however, the virus has remained active over the summer and we may see school outbreaks in the fall. This is especially true because the H1N1 virus appears to be disproportionately affecting children and young adults.

Right now, the H1N1 virus does not appear to be causing severe disease in people with the exception of individuals with asthma or other underlying health conditions, although this could change. We are working closely with the Whatcom County Health Department to monitor flu conditions and make decisions about the best steps to take to protect our students. We will keep you updated with new information as it becomes available.  If the flu becomes more severe, we may need to take additional steps to prevent the spread of the virus.  

As you may know, flu can be easily spread from person to person. We want to keep school open to students and functioning in a normal manner during this flu season. We need your help to do this.

The Whatcom County Health Department has stated that the most important step toward prevention of flu outbreaks is for sick children to remain at home.  

The Bellingham School District has informed its staff members to keep their children home if they are ill. Staff members have also been reminded to stay home if they are ill.

The district reminds all families and staff members of the symptoms of the flu, including:

• A fever (100 degrees Fahrenheit, 37.8 degrees Celsius or greater)
• Cough
• Sore throat
• Runny or stuffy nose
• Body aches
• Headache
• Feeling very tired
• Some people may also vomit or have diarrhea

Families served by the Bellingham School District should follow these important steps:

1. Keep sick children at home for 24 hours after they no longer have a fever, without using fever-reducing drugs.  Keeping children with a fever at home will reduce the number of students who are infected with the H1N1 virus.
   
2. Let staff know when you call to report your child's absence or write a note if the illness is cough-related. To help track flu outbreaks locally among children, the Whatcom County Health Department has requested that our school staff ask parents who call to report student absences due to illness if the illness is cough-related. Please be aware that beginning with the start of this school year, our school office staff will ask for this information when parents call to report student absences due to illness. This is for the purpose of community disease tracking in conjunction with the Whatcom County Health Department and the Washington State Department of Health.
   
3. Do not send your child to school if he or she is sick. Children with suspected influenza-like illness will be sent home. Staff will contact parents/guardians to pick up their sick child as soon as possible.
   
4. Make a plan so that you or your emergency contact can pick up a sick child from school as soon as possible after being notified by school staff members. If your child becomes ill during the school day, he or she will be promptly removed from other students and staff and wait for pick-up in a separate area (where available) with staff who are regularly assigned to monitor sick children.
   
   Please be aware that your child may be given a mask to wear while he or she waits for pick up to help prevent the spread of illness to staff and other students, according to health department recommendations.
    
5. Check that your emergency contact numbers on file at your school are current and accurate. All schools will be sending home emergency contact information for you to update and verify early in the school year. It will be very important that school staff are able to contact you so that your child can be picked up from school as soon as possible after any notification of illness.
    
6. Make a family plan so that a responsible adult can care for an ill child for several days if necessary.
     
7. Keep informed about additional updates about flu outbreaks, vaccines and prevention information by reading district and school e-news and print newsletters and checking www.bsd501.org.

Here are a few additional things you can do to help:

• Teach your child to wash his or her hands often with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub. Our staff set a good example by doing this themselves.
  
• Teach your child not to share personal items like drinks, food or unwashed utensils.
  
• Teach your child to cover his or her coughs and sneezes with tissues.  Covering up coughs or sneezes by using an arm or sleeve (instead of the hand) is also appropriate when a tissue is unavailable.
  
• Know the signs and symptoms of the flu.
  

The Bellingham School District has reminded its staff about implementing other prevention techniques. School custodians will make sure that hand washing stations have plenty of soap, hot water (where available) and hand-drying supplies. Teachers and other school staff will remind students to wash their hands often. School nurses and other district staff members will remind children to cover their cough with their arm or sleeve. Custodians will take extra care to disinfect common surfaces such as door handles, desks, tables, etc.

For more information visit www.flu.gov, or call 1-800-CDC-INFO for the most current information about the flu. We will notify you of any additional changes to our district's strategy to prevent the spread of flu.