BELTON, MO -
The flu usually hits schools hard at some point during the school year, but at one metro school the flu spread so quickly that officials canceled classes for the next few days so students and staff can recover.
Officials at Heartland Academy, a private Southern Baptist School in Belton, Missouri, say that their decision is all about containing the outbreak.
They say that on Monday, the school sent 10 kids home sick before lunchtime, and that out of 150 students, from preschool to 12th grade, 40 were sick and staff members weren't faring much better.
"Me and the principal sat down and decided it was probably better to just nip this in the bud," said Heartland superintendent Tray Dimsdale.
Classes at the school are canceled until Thursday, allowing families like the Myers, with three sick kids, time to recuperate.
"You got to stop it somewhere," said parent Rich Myers. "You keep the kids home, give them a few days to recover and then hopefully they'll get better and won't be passing it around to each other."
"We usually have sickness, but never this bad and this early in the year," said Myer's wife, Andrea, who also is a teacher at Heartland.
"Come Thursday morning, when we come back, this is going to be the safest place in the city to avoid getting this," said Dimsdale.
Officials at Heartland Academy, a private Southern Baptist School in Belton, Missouri, say that their decision is all about containing the outbreak.
They say that on Monday, the school sent 10 kids home sick before lunchtime, and that out of 150 students, from preschool to 12th grade, 40 were sick and staff members weren't faring much better.
"Me and the principal sat down and decided it was probably better to just nip this in the bud," said Heartland superintendent Tray Dimsdale.
Classes at the school are canceled until Thursday, allowing families like the Myers, with three sick kids, time to recuperate.
"You got to stop it somewhere," said parent Rich Myers. "You keep the kids home, give them a few days to recover and then hopefully they'll get better and won't be passing it around to each other."
"We usually have sickness, but never this bad and this early in the year," said Myer's wife, Andrea, who also is a teacher at Heartland.
"Come Thursday morning, when we come back, this is going to be the safest place in the city to avoid getting this," said Dimsdale.
