This may be the year when nobody’s perfect.

To prevent the spreading of H1N1, also known as swine flu, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that school districts cancel perfect attendance awards this year.

Some area districts are taking the recommendation under advisement.

“You can miss some days and still be a good student,” Elyria Schools Superintendent Paul Rigda said Friday. “We’re seriously considering eliminating perfect attendance awards for this year.”

Eliminating the awards comes with soaring absenteeism due to the swine flu and fear of it. Eleven children have died across the nation this week from the flu, according to the CDC, with 43 dying this month and in September.

Since the swine flu began last spring, 86 children have died.

Rigda said absenteeism in the Elyria district is usually about 5 percent in mid-October, but is between 10 and 15 percent this year, numbers that usually don’t occur until flu season between December and early March.

“We’re seeing families err on the side of caution, which is good,” Rigda said.

Other area districts also have reported higher than normal absenteeism.

About 60 students were absent from South Elementary School in Vermilion one day last week, according to Superintendent Phil Pempin. Typically, the number would be 30 to 40.

And in Amherst, the show will not go on for the Marion L. Steele High School marching band, which missed Friday night’s Amherst-Brecksville football game because about 25 of the 135 band members came down with the flu, according to Principal Mike Gilliam.

Gilliam said the absentee rate is approximately 20 percent for the school. Normally, absenteeism is about 7 percent to 9 percent, he said.

Average statewide absenteeism was between 5.5 percent and 5.8 percent between 2003 and last year, according to the state Department of Education.

Julie Daubenmire, a department spokeswoman, said the department has no specific guidelines for when to keep children home. She recommended schools and parents encourage good hygiene and exercise common sense such as not sending a child with a fever to school.

The CDC recommends children stay home at least 24 hours after they no longer have a fever or signs of a fever. Rigda seconded that, asking parents whose children have a fever, headache or sore throat to stay home. At school, children are told to sneeze into their sleeves instead of their hands and to wash their hands frequently, he said.

Rigda said most students — excluding those afflicted with “senioritis” in the spring — like going to school so they likely aren’t faking if they complain about feeling ill.

“The older the child, maybe they work it a little bit, but the younger ones get upset when they miss school,” he said. “It’s where all their friends are.”
Chronicle reporter Steve Fogarty contributed to this story.

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