A Kansas school has decided to start its holiday break early after illnesses wreaked havoc on its students and staff, with more than 40 calling out sick in one day.
Dexter Schools USD #471posted a statement on Facebooksaying it would be dismissing students the semester on Monday due to a "tremendous amount of sickness right now and it seems to be spreading at a very high rate." The school, located about 70 miles south of Wichita, wanted to avoid the continued spread as students were likely to be seeing extended families soon.
It's unclear exactly which illnesses have spread across the school, but theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention's "FluView"tracker reports that there was an 8% increase inpositive flu diagnosesin the first week of December. Wastewater data last month alsoindicated that norovirus was spreading earlierthan usual this year in some states.
K.B Criss, the superintendent and principal of the K-12 school,told NBC News affiliate KSNWthat roughly 40 to 50 students and staff called out sick on Monday.
"We have had symptoms all over the place, it's kinda crazy because we can't pinpoint it down to one, but we have had bronchitis, strep throat," Criss said. "We have had kids with diarrhea and that are throwing up. We have fever, body aches, and probably the most common one is that everybody is getting with this is terrible headaches."
The school will undergo a "really, really deep clean" during the winter break and before students return in January, he added. Any final exams or projects would resume in the new year after teachers are given a chance to either finish their curriculum or review with students.
"I hope these steps really allow people to be well and spend time with their families, and feel well," Criss added.
