September 30, 2009

Dear Parents and Staff:

As you may have heard, or seen in the media, the Garfield Re-2 family suffered a significant loss recently with the passing of a second grader at Wamsley Elementary. The loss of any student or staff member is tragic, especially someone so young. Our thoughts and our prayers are with her family in this time of need.

On September 30, the Garfield County Public Health Department confirmed that this student did contract the H1N1 virus, however a cause of death has yet to be determined. Health officials note that the child was not in school on September 18 and spent the weekend in the Denver area, reducing the risk of exposure to fellow students and staff.

We want to assure you that the health and well being of our students and staff is our top priority, and we are doing everything possible to address the situation. We have not seen any unusual spikes in influenza–like illness in Wamsley Elementary since the student last attended school.

The Garfield Re-2 School District has been in constant communication with the Garfield County Department of Public Health since school began monitoring the influenza situation and we will continue to work closely with them. If the Department of Public Health has any new information to share with regards to influenza in our school district, we will be sure to communicate that with our parents as quickly as possible using the autodialer, web site, and letters home.

We know that the flu season has been intense already this year. Influenza is in our county and in our schools. To help keep our students, our staff and our schools healthy, Garfield Re-2 has:

·       increased the intensity of our cleaning routines and is using an anti-viral/anti-bacterial cleaner on all high contact areas like light switches, door handles and hand rails;

·       added hand sanitizer to all computer labs, music classrooms, and other high use areas in our school buildings;

·       completed a top-down cleaning of all of our buildings including door-frames, desks, floors, chairs using an anti-viral/anti-bacterial cleaner over the weekend of September 26;

·       continued to encourage good hand washing and the use of hand sanitizer;

·       encouraged all of our students and staff to stay at home when ill;

·       encouraged our staff and students to vaccinate against the flu;

·       implemented any recommendations that come from the Garfield County Department of Public Health to insure the health of our school communities.

The best way to reduce the spread of H1N1 or any other virus is to practice good hygiene, and we encourage you to teach your children to wash their hands often, keep their hands away from their eyes, nose, and mouth, and cover coughs and sneezes with their sleeve or a tissue.

Please keep your child home from school if he or she shows any flu symptoms, including fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headaches, chills, and fatigue, and contact your health care provider and the school immediately. Students with the flu should stay home until at least 24 hours after they no longer have a fever, or signs of a fever, without the use of fever-reducing medicines.

For more about H1N1 and seasonal flu viruses, visit www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu, and www.flu.gov. To learn more about the precautions our schools are taking, visit www.garfieldre2.org and click on the parent resources tab.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

David Smucker

Superintendent, Garfield Re-2