Flu doesn’t factor in school absenteeism

Clark County School District student attendance this year remains relatively healthy despite the spread of the H1N1 flu, officials said Thursday.

District attendance is at 94.4 percent, according to a sampling of 20 schools across the county.

The H1N1 pandemic has stoked fears of school closures, but this year's attendance rate is almost the same as the 95 percent attendance rate logged for the same time period the past two school years.

Dr. Larry Sands, the chief health officer for the Southern Nevada Health District, confirmed Thursday that, "We're not seeing much in the way of (school) absenteeism. In fact, we saw more absenteeism during the spring."

Marion Earl Elementary School, at 6650 Reno Ave., near Torrey Pines Drive and Tropicana Avenue, had the worst absenteeism rate in June -- more than 50 percent. But the school had only four documented cases of H1N1. Many of the students probably stayed home as a health precaution, officials said.

School officials said the public should not read too much into attendance figures because students miss school for all kinds of reasons.

Because of the public demand for more information about H1N1 trends, the district will soon begin providing attendance data for each school on the district Web site, ccsd.net, said Cynthia Sell, district communications director. A date for when the information would become available was not given.

The district has been criticized for not notifying parents about H1N1 cases at individual schools, but district officials said they have to balance the public's right to know with an individual's right to privacy. The district would try to notify families if a school situation became extreme, officials said.

The district did notify families at McCall Elementary School in North Las Vegas after a 6-year-old male student with underlying health problems contracted the H1N1 virus and died.

"That was a tragedy. These schools operate like families," said Diana Taylor, director of district health services. "They knew the parents would want to know about one of their own."

Contact reporter James Haug at jhaug@ reviewjournal.com or 702-374-7917.