Lafayette schools work to prevent flu from spreading
LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) — As if reading, writing and arithmetic aren’t hard enough, students face another challenge: avoiding the flu. Lafayette Schools staff is working to decrease the number of students getting sick.
“It’s rough at school,” said Sunnyside Intermediate School fifth-grade teacher Taylor Broadus. “We definitely have to be careful and take precaution.”
Lafayette School Corp. Superintendent Les Huddle said the average absence rate is about 4 to 5 percent. On Thursday, the average was 10 percent to 12 percent.
“We’re constantly trying to keep the building as clean as possible and as disinfected as possible,” Huddle said.
He said staff is doing all it can to prevent sickness from spreading.
“I ‘Lysol’ the desks almost every day,” said Broadus. “We have hand sanitize, and we put it on the kids before and after lunch. We’re constantly having kids wash their hands.”
On top of handwashing and hand sanitizer, Broadus also makes sure things like electronic tablets are sanitized. She said it’s all about making sure students practice good hygiene.
“Kids always need that extra reminder just to be safe with all of that stuff and then also with the germs that do go around,” she explained.
There’s another lesson she’s teaching her students when it comes to flu prevention.
“Just because you’re not getting sick or you’re not sick, it doesn’t mean that your germs are not infecting somebody else,” Broadus added.
Broadus believes good cleaning habits have kept a majority of her students from getting the flu.
“It’s just sanitizing everything you possibly can, I guess,” Broadus said. “I don’t really think there’s a way we can protect from it besides just taking those precautions.”
The Tippecanoe School Corporation and the West Lafayette Community School Corporation are not reporting a significant number of absences. Both corporations are doing all they can to promote good hygiene and educate students about flu prevention.