Gov't Urges Schools to Close Only As Last Resort

[indigo girl]

Swine Flu School Closings Could Cost Billions

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/21157140/detail.html#

Closing schools and day care centers because of swine flu could cost between $10 billion and $47 billion, a report by the Brookings Institution think tank found.

The government is urging schools to close only as a last resort, such as when large numbers of kids or staffers come down with swine flu.

But in the month since classes began, many schools have closed. As of Monday, there had been at least 187 school dismissals across the country affecting at least 79,678 students, the Education Department said.

The report issued Wednesday by Brookings' Center on Social and Economic Dynamics estimated that the cost of closing all schools in the U.S. for four weeks would be between $10 billion to $47 billion. Brookings called that a conservative estimate.

Keeping kids home from school would require parents to stay home from work too, and some of those parents are health care workers, the report said.

The report also said:

-- The cost of mass school closures in selected cities would be $65 million for Washington, D.C., $1.1 billion for New York City and $1.5 billion for Los Angeles County.

-- Mass school closures would cause 12 percent of workers to be absent; absenteeism could be higher in lower-income households with only one worker.

-- The value of lost class time is estimated to be $6.1 billion.

(hat tip pfi/pixie)

[Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN]

This infuriates me. It boils down to money over the welfare of our kids! Where do they draw the line on "large numbers" being absent...there is no definitive guidelines. 10%, 20%, 50%??? This virus is sweeping my school right now and I firmly believe that by the time this is over, every kid will have had it. I have some fragile asthmatics, diabetics, and other medically fragile kids that I am scared for.

My district closed for a week last April based on recommendations from the Dept. of Public Health. We had few or no cases in most schools at that time, yet they closed for a week. Now, every school has cases and many many more are suspected but they put their hands over their ears and sing "la la la" because they don't want to hear it.

My question is: how many kids will have to die before they take notice?

Whew, sorry. Stepping off my soapbox now. I feel better, though :)

[indigo girl]

This infuriates me. It boils down to money over the welfare of our kids! Where do they draw the line on "large numbers" being absent...there is no definitive guidelines. 10%, 20%, 50%??? This virus is sweeping my school right now and I firmly believe that by the time this is over, every kid will have had it. I have some fragile asthmatics, diabetics, and other medically fragile kids that I am scared for.

My district closed for a week last April based on recommendations from the Dept. of Public Health. We had few or no cases in most schools at that time, yet they closed for a week. Now, every school has cases and many many more are suspected but they put their hands over their ears and sing "la la la" because they don't want to hear it.

My question is: how many kids will have to die before they take notice?

Whew, sorry. Stepping off my soapbox now. I feel better, though :)

I hear you.

I wish that they would have chosen to delay opening the schools until the kids were vaccinated. It would have been very expensive and massively inconvenient, I know. But, it would have majorly slowed down transmission of the pandemic virus because kids are the superspreaders and their parents are the bridge to the rest of the community.

Instead, we tell parents to send their kids to school and placate their worries by telling them that we cleaning everything, and promoting handwashing as if it was going to keep the kids from getting the flu.

The govt has just begun realeasing the pediatric version of Tamiflu from the national stockpile according to today's CDC briefing. The vaccines are being shipped, but it will not be soon enough to prevent some of these tragic deaths.