SCHOOL BUSES

exchange with a parent whose child got the flu.

One significant item he brought to my attention was the question, “what is being done to keep the school buses clean?” His daughter doesn’t regularly ride the bus, but had to for a week and she got the flu. In talking to her and other parents in the neighborhood, he found several who rode the bus got it. When a call went in to the school and the question was asked the staff didn’t know what was being done in that regard.

Now that could be due to the fact that the information wasn’t relayed from Jennings to the office staff, but it also could indicate for the measures that were taken a big one was overlooked.

Nearly each bus is used to carry HS and MS students, then does an Elem/IS run, and some also have a K run mixed in, or are used for afterschool activities. Students are tightly grouped in a contained space for anywhere from 10 to 50 minutes. Some students are on two buses (house to elem, then elem to IS). This creates a lot of opportunities to spread a contagious condition such as the flu.

We now have had 221 reported cases and of those 49 students are currently affected. It would be interesting to see of the 49 if any were clustered on specific buses or if they were randomly distributed across them all. It would also be interesting to look at the 221, when they were out of school and on which buses they rode.

Of course that would only prove or disprove the theory, the more important thing is to make sure the buses are getting regularly cleaned in light of this severe flu season.