Red Oak ISD is working closely with the Ellis County Health Authority and the Texas Department of State Health Services in regard to our local response to the H1N1 and seasonal flu season.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) anticipates increasing numbers of confirmed cases of H1N1 influenza over the course of the 2009-2010 school year. In an effort to help keep our students healthy, we want to share with you important awareness and prevention information. This includes what you can do to keep your child healthy and what we are doing as a district to promote the overall health and wellness of our students and staff.

What You Can Do to Keep Your Children Healthy

• Stay informed. The Red Oak ISD website will be updated regularly as we learn new information from our local, state and national public health authorities.

• Encourage your children to adhere to everyday actions to stay healthy.

o Washing their hands often with soap and water, especially after they cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers are also effective.

o Covering their nose and mouth with a tissue when they cough or sneeze and then throwing the tissue in the trash after they use it. If no tissue is available, encourage them to cough or sneeze into their shirt sleeve or elbow and not into their hand.

o Avoid touching their eyes, nose, or mouth. Germs spread this way.

o Keep your children home if they are sick. CDC recommends that children stay home from school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.

Students with flu-like illness (fever 100°F or greater, cough, sore throat, headache, body aches, chills, fatigue) must stay home from school for at least 24 hours after they no longer have a fever, or signs of fever, without the use of fever-reducing medicines.  Please inform the attendance clerk why your child is absent. If you have a confirmed case of the flu, a test done by the doctor, please inform the school. This information is important to monitor the number of cases in the district, county and state.

• Follow public health advice regarding avoiding crowds and other social distancing measures.

 

What We Are Doing at School to Promote the Health and Wellness of Our Students and Staff

*We will continue to be in close contact with our local, state, and national public health authorities and will provide you with up-to-date information concerning H1N1 influenza throughout the school year. This information will be made available to you on our web site at www.redoakisd.org and via automated phone calls made as deemed necessary.

*We will continue to emphasize the importance of the basic foundations of influenza prevention to your children during school hours including good hand hygiene and the proper methods for cleaning hands and respiratory care, including keeping hands away from the face.

*We will provide the time needed for all students and staff to wash their hands whenever necessary. Soap, paper towels and sanitizers will be available in schools.

*We will routinely clean areas that students and staff touch often with appropriate disinfectant cleansers.

School closures are not recommended for cases of the flu at this time. We will evaluate situations as they arise with a coordinated decision with the local and state health authorities.

Thank you for your continued diligence in promoting the health and wellness of your children. We strongly believe that healthy students learn better and are looking forward to an academically successful school year

Other sources of flu information can be found at www.Txflu.org or the www.cdc.gov/