TRAVERSE CITY -- A Traverse City technical education center and Benzie County's two public school districts joined the list of schools closing because of flu.
Benzie County Central Schools and Frankfort-Elberta Area Schools both will close today and Friday after a suspected outbreak of the H1N1 influenza strain known as swine flu, administrators said.
Staff members will participate in a professional development day Monday, and students will return Tuesday.
In addition, the Traverse Bay Area Career-Tech Center also will be closed until Tuesday.
The center in Traverse City will lose students from at least six local districts that shut down, including Buckley Community Schools in Wexford County, said Mike Hill, superintendent of the Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District.
About 40 percent of the school's students would remain in classes, a situation that "is just not conducive to teaching and learning," Hill said.
As of 9 a.m. Wednesday, 147 of 550 Frankfort-Elberta students were absent -- about 27 percent of enrollment "and climbing," Superintendent Tom Stobie said. The buildings will be cleaned while closed.
Betsie Valley Elementary in Benzie's district shut down Tuesday and Wednesday when more than half of students were absent, Superintendent Dave Micinski said. By Wednesday, he said, middle school absences reached 27 percent and high school 28 percent.
"We felt it'd be in the best interest of our school to just kind of shut things down, let everybody rest," Micinski said.
Grand Traverse Area Catholic Schools will be open today, but no busing will be offered. Absences held steady or decreased Wednesday, according to the superintendent's office.
Classes at Grand Traverse Academy and Traverse City College Preparatory Academy should resume Monday. Public school districts in Traverse City and Kingsley are expected to reopen Tuesday, as are some TBAISD special education programs.
For more information
-- Benzie County Central Schools and Frankfort-Elberta Area Schools will host lunch programs today, Friday and Monday while schools are closed due to flu, superintendents said.
Lunch will be provided from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Homestead Township Hall in Honor, the Thompsonville village hall and at the Fresh Wind Christian Community church in Beulah.
It will be offered from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Lockhart Field in Frankfort.
-- Vaccine clinics will be held in Antrim, Otsego, Charlevoix and Emmet counties from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday.
The clinics will be held at the Bellaire, Gaylord and Petoskey/Harbor Springs health department offices, as well as the Charlevoix Public Library, for the following groups: pregnant women, caregivers or household members of infants younger than 6 months, health care workers with direct patient interaction, children ages 6 months to 4 years and children ages 5 months to 18 years with underlying medical conditions.
Vaccine clinics will continue beginning at 4 p.m. Monday in Ellsworth, Boyne City and Alanson schools.
-- Halloween events still are planned in Traverse City. The Downtown Halloween Walk will be held from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Friday in Traverse City. Look for the orange flyers in business windows.
Related Items:
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- H1N1 swine flu impact felt across region
- About the H1N1 virus and vaccine
- US swine flu vaccine outlook improving, CDC says
- Swine flu shutters two school districts
- 'Hundreds' of flu cases possible in area
- HHS' Sebelius: Ample flu vaccine will be available
- Swine Flu: What kids should know (PDF)
- Schools to stay closed due to flu
- Three more area schools close due to flu
- Flu wreaks havoc on sports schedules
- Swine flu outbreak closes school
- Swine flu sweeps through region
- Editorial: Answers on swine flu
- Production of swine flu vaccine is way behind
- Interactive Multimedia: A closer look at the pandemic
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