Flu Fears Close More Schools

DALLAS - Several schools in North Texas have closed their doors amid fears of fast-spreading swine flu germs, the same day news surfaced of the first U.S. death caused by the disease.

Daniel Webster Elementary School in the Dallas Independent School district will be closed starting Friday, May 1 until Monday, May 11. One of the students has a confirmed case of swine flu.

Classes were scheduled to finish as usual on Thursday with regular bus service, but parents were invited to pick up their children from Daniel Webster Elementary if they so desired.

Fort Worth Independent School District officials said they have closed all campuses in the district through at least May 8 upon the recommendation of Tarrant County health officials. The district has a hotline set up at (817) 871-2222.

District officials said a 12-year-old student from McLean Middle is recovering from a now confirmed case of the virus.

They plan to disinfect all campuses and they encourage students to stay home to help prevent the spread of the swine flu, a spokeswoman said.

Also in Fort Worth, Harmony Science Academy announced the cancellation of classes and all after-school and weekend activities for Thursday and Friday.

Cleburne Independent School District also canceled classes at all 11 of its campuses Wednesday. District officials said there were four probable cases of the swine flu in the district.

CISD plans to clean all buildings, buses and playground equipment and reopen no earlier than Monday, officials said.

Hebron Valley Elementary in Carrollton also will be closed until next Thursday because three students probably have swine flu.

Irving's Universal Academy canceled classes for the week for pre-kindergarten through second grad. The school said it was taking precautions because one student might have the virus.

School let out early Tuesday from Golden Rule Charter School in Oak Cliff after the 14-year-old sibling of some students there contracted the virus. That school has already been sanitized.

On Monday, Canyon Creek Elementary in Richardson closed for the week because a 7-year-old student tested positive for swine flu.

Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott said Wednesday that 53,000 of the state's 4.7 million public school students were affected by the closures.

Because of the closures and parents keeping children home on their own, students were missing school on an important day for standardized state tests. But he said no district that closes because of swine flu concerns will be penalized in a financial or academic way.

"Quite frankly that's really the last thing a lot of those districts need to be worried about right now. We will accommodate them. We will test the students when they come back," he said.

He said the state will offer "waiver days" to make sure schools don't have to make up those days in the summer. If students are unable to be tested, the state will work with those districts to adjust their accountability ratings accordingly.

Scott said his message to families is this: "If you're sick, now is not the time to be worried about the perfect attendance award. Stay home, get better and let this thing run its course."

He added that the vast majority of Texas schools are operating normally and that many TAKS tests are taking place this week.