Gary Thomas, Ed.D. County Superintendent

Superintendent's Message

Take Steps To Make This School Year Healthy

This is the traditional time of year that we associate with the start of our school year. Of course, the reality is that school activities and opportunities for learning and enrichment have become year-round pursuits for many of the families in our region.

While public education faces many day-to-day challenges in striving to boost student achievement, this fall and winter also presents potential obstacles for all of us as we deal with the H1N1 virus. Earlier this spring, the pandemic from the H1N1 virus - back then it was called swine flu - sprang to life and began disrupting our lives. In San Bernardino County, six schools in three school districts followed the guidance of Public Health officials and dismissed students in the spring in response to concerns about the spread of the virus.

What we do know about H1N1 is this new flu strain is not as virulent as was first thought, and since its outbreak in the spring, our health-care system has been able to work on vaccines to combat its effects and has given our communities more time to prepare for the upcoming flu season.

Below are some guidelines we are sharing with our schools and districts in trying to head off the severity of H1N1 this flu season:

• Teach children to wash hands frequently with soap and water, and make sure to model the correct behavior.
• Make sure students with flu-like illness stay home at least 24 hours after showing no symptoms such as fever or signs of a fever (without the use of fever-reducing medicines).
• Teach children to cover their coughs and sneezes with tissues.
• Talk to students who appear to have flu-like illness at school to be prepared to be placed in a separate room from others until they can be sent home. If possible, those who are ill should wear a surgical mask to prevent coughing or sneezing on others.
• Make sure to get your family vaccinated for the seasonal flu, as well as H1N1 when vaccines are made available.
• Identify those children who are at a higher risk of serious disease from the flu and talk to your healthcare provider about plans to protect them during the flu season. Those children at high risk of serious disease from the flu include: children under the age of 5 and those with chronic conditions like asthma and diabetes.
• Update emergency contact lists.
• Have a variety of books, DVD, board games and other items at home to keep your family entertained should schools be dismissed or if your child becomes sick and needs to remain at home.

The County Schools office will continue to work closely with our County Department of Public Health, providing information and resources to help curtail the spread of the H1N1 virus this flu season. Our office will work with Public Health to monitor conditions on school sites for our 33 county K-12 districts. We also will provide support and assistance with Public Health as it plans to provide flu vaccines countywide this fall.

On behalf of public schools in our county, I pledge to support all efforts my office can to help keep our communities as healthy as we can. With the support of the families of students who attend public schools in the county, we can meet the challenges that this flu season will bring, as long as we work together and take necessary precautions to protect our overall health.