Gibson Southern High School went through a sickness scare the week of February 3 through February 7. Students continue to battle sickness throughout the winter, while Gibson Southern has its own rules and policies set to continue to protect its students and staff.
“We always see an uptick in illness during the winter months,” said Gibson Southern High School principal Jon Adams. “That being said, over the past few weeks, we were definitely at a higher number of students being out than normal.”
During this week, Gibson Southern had more than 20 percent of its student body home from school with illness.
“When a school reaches 20 percent of its student body out due to illness, we contact the local health department for guidance,” Adams said. “The health department would be who recommends a school closing. All options were discussed with the health department, but we were only over 20 percent for a short period of time, and then it immediately dropped down to below 10 percent in just a couple of days.”
Along with the students, many teachers were out as well, either to care for their struggling family members or to try to get healthy themselves.
“It has made it hard to keep moving on with content when a third of the students are out at a time,” AP physics teacher Kasey Knaebel said. “Then, when those students are back, the next third are out. For about two weeks, I felt like we were just spinning our wheels, trying to make things work, but it wasn’t a great use of time or energy.”
There are multiple topics outlined in the student handbook which correlate with the consequences of illness. First of all, as stated on page 45 of the handbook, being absent for illness is counted as an excused absence on behalf of the parent calling the office or sending in a note. The call is preferred to be made before 8:30 a.m. and doctors’ notes are also great ways to make sure you are not counted as unexcused.
“I was sick for like four school days with flu type A,” senior Tristan Christian said. “Being out of class actually messed with my grades, making me have to learn more on my own. With the massive outbreak of people getting the flu, I feel like it messed with everybody.”
Any student with a dangerous communicable disease can be taken from school even if the student does not take any actions to leave. The student handbook says on page eight that this is because they now pose a substantial threat to the health and safety of the school community.
“I went to the doctor and got a prescription, and multiple over the counter medications,” Christian said. “Then, I stayed home and rested. I needed the time off, even if it counted towards my absences.”
At Gibson Southern, students have a 10-day limit on excused absences before the risk of losing their credits. If students are dismissed by the school to leave, or are medically excused by a healthcare provider, then the time away from school does not count against one’s 10-day loss of credit limit. On the other hand, if a person is only excused by a parental note or call, this will count towards this limit. If a student misses their 10 allotted days towards this limit, they lose class credits for the semester. This topic is covered in much more detail on pages 45 and 46 of the student handbook. If one misses more than five days in a class, a student cannot exempt the final for that class at the end of the semester.
“Just be smart with who you hang with,” Christian said. “Be smarter, especially if they got a cough or sinus issues.”
The custodians at Gibson Southern have been sanitizing the desks with anti-bacterial spray after school on days where they feel like it is necessary.
“Wash your hands, keep your hands to yourself and stay home if you are sick,” Knaebel said. “I know kids don’t want to take finals, but as people just kept coming to school sick, the problem grew. I have chosen not to go to certain places with my kid that I know he would probably get sick from: indoor play places or things like that. That is not as much of a problem for high schoolers, but it’s something I have started paying attention to when sickness levels are high.”
