By EVA-MARIE AYALA and JESSAMY BROWN - Fort Worth Star Telegram - May 1, 2009
Fort Worth school district workers began sanitizing all 144 campuses Thursday while administrators dealt with payroll, academic and finance issues related to the closing of the district because of swine flu concerns.
Spokeswoman Barbara Griffith said administrators are applying for state waivers to avoid making up the missed days and allow it to pay certain employees including teachers, librarians, counselors, principals and other staff.
"We are looking into every legal waiver," she said.
The 80,000-student district announced late Wednesday that it would close all campuses through May 8 because of concerns about the swine flu. All district-related activities have been canceled, including this weekend’s Military Ball and proms scheduled for the next two weekends.
On Thursday, some parents drove their children to school, only to find them closed. They struggled to find day care or were forced to stay home from work.
Texas Wesleyan University closed in part because many students have children in the Fort Worth district, officials said.
School board President Ray Dickerson said he and officials understood that having so many students suddenly out of school would be an inconvenience to many parents and employers.
"My feeling is that if we’re going to make a mistake, we’re going to make a mistake on the side of safety for our students and our children," he said.
Many students enjoyed the day off.
John Linebarger, 18, overslept Thursday but later found out that he needn’t have hurried. The senior at Diamond Hill-Jarvis High spent Thursday morning at Ridgmar mall and plans to take a road trip with buddies to visit his grandmother in Oklahoma — against the advice of local health officials, who are encouraging the students to stay at home.
"It’s going to take more than just a virus to take me out," Linebarger said.
Big week for academic tests
One of the biggest concerns is state testing.
Students in several grades were scheduled to take Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills tests Thursday, including the high school exit-level science tests needed to graduate. The district has 410 juniors and seniors who have not passed that test.
Griffith said that if the district can resume classes May 11, administrators are confident that state tests can be rescheduled and graded before June 5, the last day of school.
Graduation ceremonies are unchanged, Griffith said.
The disruption of tests will affect Polytechnic High School more than any other campus. How its students perform on the TAKS will determine whether the school will be shut down by the state. It has been rated academically unacceptable four years in a row because of poor performance on state tests.
Students had been building up momentum in recent weeks, with extra tutoring after school and on Saturdays.
Poly Principal Gary Braudaway said the students’ health and safety come before any test. While the closure may have interrupted efforts, he said the school will prevail. "We are extremely focused and ready for that test," he said. "With a week off, it may take us a day or two to get back the focus we had, but I’m confident we’ll do it."
TEA spokeswoman Debbie Graves Ratcliffe said, "We will do what we can to work with the superintendent to develop a plan to help Poly."
Schools keep close watch
Keller district officials said they are monitoring three cases of Type A influenza to determine whether they are the swine flu strain. The Northwest district is monitoring two cases.
Trinity Valley School, a Fort Worth private school, was closed Thursday and today. In a message on the campus Web site, Head of School Gary Krahn said the closure is to provide time for campus leaders "to make the best decision for our children."
Dallas, Houston, Austin, Wichita Falls and Corpus Christi all closed at least one campus Thursday, but no other district closed entirely on Thursday. Six districts have closed so far, with Fort Worth being the largest.
Dr. Sandra Parker, medical director for Tarrant County Public Health, said Wednesday that she advised Fort Worth to close because the district had four probable cases at four different schools.
She said it was best to close the district to prevent further spread of the highly communicable disease.
On Thursday, the state pledged to create guidelines about when schools should shut down, The Associated Press reported.
After meeting with Gov. Rick Perry, school district superintendents around San Antonio said they expected the state to provide those guidelines as quickly as Thursday night. They said consistency was needed because parents had questioned why some campuses were closed and others were not.
"We’re looking at Fort Worth and saying, 'What constituted that?’ " said Richard Middleton, superintendent of North East school district in San Antonio. "That’s the precedent we’ve got to worry about."
Staff writer Nathaniel Jones contributed to this report, which includes material from The Associated Press.
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