HAYDEN, Idaho – More than 100 children and faculty members at Hayden Canyon Charter School have called out sick. The alarming number of ill people prompted the school to close its doors Tuesday.
A high percentage of the students and staff that called out sick reported a fever or flu-like symptoms.
In an email sent to NonStop Local, Bill Rutherford, the school’s principal, stated:
“We started the day with 75 students out and 10 staff members out. As the day went on, we sent 6 more staff members and 25 more students home with fevers and a few staff members were getting sick at the end of the day. We brought in all of our substitute teachers to cover for the teachers that were ill but ran out of subs pretty quickly. We got to a place that we didn’t have enough staff to educate students and to keep them safe so we closed school for today, we hired a contractor to sanitize the school and expect to be open tomorrow. The decision to close was not made lightly and we know closing is a terrible burden on our parents. We have a plan to be open for the rest of the week that will benefit our students and keep them safe.”
Panhandle Health District told NonStop Local that the school never contacted the department to report an outbreak.
A spokesperson for the health district said schools are required to report any communicable diseases, however, in Idaho, influenza is not considered a reportable disease.
