N.J. schools retink perfect attendance to cope with swine flue
Posted Monday, October 26, 2009 from The Star-Ledger

N.J. schools rethink perfect attendance to cope with swine flu

By Kristen Alloway/The Star-Ledger

October 26, 2009, 5:35AM

When her seven-year-old daughter, Olivia, got sick the first fullweek of school, Jamie Amato of Roselle Park knew she’d have adisagreement on her hands.

“She’s in second grade and was like, ‘No, I want to go to school.... I need to do perfect attendance,’” said Jamie Amato, who kept herdaughter home.
APA nurse prepares the injectable version of H1N1 Influenza vaccine Oct. 19 at Broadmoor Elementary School in Miami.

But with concerns this fall about swine flu — also known as H1N1flu — the message from schools and the federal Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention is uncompromising: If you’re sick, stay home.

To reinforce that idea, Roselle Park has joined several otherdistricts around the state, including Bridgewater-Raritan, Secaucus,Flemington-Raritan and Kenilworth, in scuttling their perfectattendance recognitions.

“Having an award could be seen by some students as an incentive tocome to school when they are sick,” Bridgewater-Raritan SuperintendentMichael Schilder said. “We wanted to remove all possibility of that . .. at least during the flu season.”

According to the CDC, those with flu-like symptoms, including fever,aches, stuffy or runny nose, cough, sore throat, should stay home andavoid contact with others except to receive medical treatment.

Even President Obama, who has called the flu outbreak a nationalemergency, mentioned the illness in his back-to-school speech to thenation’s children last month.

“I hope you’ll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from schoolwhen you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the fluthis fall and winter,” he said.

Few of Bridgewater-Raritan’s 11 schools had perfect attendance awards, Schilder said.

The high school recognizes graduating seniors if they go fourstraight years without missing a day. And there may have been classroomteachers in the younger grades who awarded certificates in June.

Still, the district of 9,100 students decided to suspend allrecognitions after a meeting of county superintendents and healthdepartment officials this summer and will re-evaluate the policy at theend of the year, he said.

Ronald Frank, a school physician for 15 Central Jersey districts,said he thought the decision to scrap perfect attendance awards was agood one this year, and one for schools to consider even when H1N1 isnot a concern.

“We don’t want parents to feel compelled to send their kids inbecause of that award,” said Frank, who has a family medicine practicein Green Brook. “If they’re sick, we really want them to stay home ...for their own health and to try to prevent the spread of anycommunicable disease or infection to anyone else in the district.”

In Roselle Park, where the awards are popular among youngsters, school officials braced for a reaction from parents.

“We were holding our breath when the schools announced it in thebeginning of the year,” Roselle Park Superintendent Patrick Spagnolettisaid. “The majority of the people have been very supportive andunderstand we’re serious when we say if a child is not feeling well wewant them to stay at home.”

The district has an attendance rate of nearly 98 percent, and manystudents, especially in elementary and middle school, make it to classevery day and earn recognition at the end of the school year, thesuperintendent said.

“We have a segment of the population that really looks forward to perfect attendance” awards, he said.

At the high school, Roselle Park has a policy that students cannotparticipate in after-school activities — including athletics, clubs andschool dances — if they were not in school for at least fours that day,Spagnoletti said.

The district has reminded coaches and teachers not to encourage kids to come to school if they are sick.

“We want to discourage putting pressure on students who are notfeeling well to come to school,” Spagnoletti said. “It’s not aboutwinning or losing. Students’ health takes priority over that.”

Bridgewater mother of four Kayte Ortmann said she understood why herdistrict had changed its policy. But she also felt students who make itto all 180-plus days of school should be recognized in some way, evenif it’s just a mention at an end-of-year awards ceremony.

“I think it is a great accomplishment. ... It’s something that should be acknowledged,” Ortmann said.

Kenilworth student Rachel Lynaugh, 12, agreed. She said she stillremembers earning a perfect attendance certificate in fourth grade.

“I felt really proud. I knew I had attended every single day and hadlearned everything and not missed anything,” she said. “Some (kids) goall 180 days and they want something to show for it.”

But Amato, in Roselle Park, said she was “kind of glad” her district reversed course.
“I don’t necessarily agree with being rewarded for being in schoolevery day,” Amato said. “For some children, it’s out of their controlif they’re not there ... and they feel like they are being penalized.”

In Roselle Park, the district “froze” students’ perfect attendancestatus last June. The district will re-examine the policy at the end ofthe school year and decide whether to continue it.