By Shelley Kofler, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-834102.mp3
Dallas, TX – Some 250 students at Canyon Creek Elementary in Richardson are home for the rest of the week after one of their classmates contracted swine flu. KERA's Shelley Kofler reports Richardson is just one of many North Texas districts responding to swine flu.
Late Monday Richardson school officials cancelled classes for the rest of the week at Canyon Creek elementary. Officials confirmed an eight-year old is sick with swine flu. Two additional students have symptoms and are being tested. Liz Morse is with the Richardson School District.
Morse: We decided to be proactive and try to be as protective as we could of our students and staff. We decided to close school so if there are other cases it wouldn't be spread more.
Richardson officials say their students have not been hospitalized and appear to be recovering.
Dallas County Medical Director Dr. John Carlo says Canyon Creek parents should still keep a close eye on their children in case they're also infected.
Carlo: It's very important that if you are a student at the school, at Canyon Creek Elementary, that you do stay home. This isn't the time to go elsewhere and congregate. Stay in your home.
In Dallas school officials are following the health authority's recommendation to check for swine flu cases by contacting the parents of absent students.
In Fort Worth, before Monday classes, employees scrubbed McLean Middle School with a bleach-based substance. A 12-year old McLean student is being tested for swine flu. School district spokesman Clint Bond says the district is developing a plan in case the virus escalates.
Bond: We're in some planning phases on what would happen if we closed one school, if we had to close two schools or if we had to close an entire district. We're going through that table top drill right now just to see what are the ramifications of doing that.
Fort Worth like other districts says it has never experienced anything like the potential of the swine flu virus. The district wants to be as prepared as possible.