<p>Anyone else worried that their kids school will be closed for graduation?
This is a notice from our daughter's school today:</p>
<p>Following the recommendation of the Connecticut Department of Public Health, if the school has the suspicion of a possible or probable case of swine flu, school will be closed for seven consecutive days. Should a case of swine flu be confirmed, school will close for the remainder of the school year. While we hope this is an unlikely scenario, it is important for us to be prepared for the possibility and plan accordingly. Should this occur, the Academic Office anticipates using a variety of options designed to cause minimal disruption, particularly to students entering college, including using current grading as final grades, long distance learning, etc.</p>
<p>I can’t believe I haven’t thought of this! Graduation ceremonies are gatherings of thousands of people (at least in my city, as all high public high schools have >2000 students). This sort of gathering wouldn’t be allowed during a pandemic. Son’s graduation will be the third week of June.</p>
<p>I am a senior in HS right now (in NJ). I hope this does not happen. I’m not sure if it will. </p>
<p>Closing school for the remainder of the year sounds perhaps a little drastic. Of course, I could understand closing school for perhaps a week, and/or “quarantining” the student with a confirmed case until he/she recovers. But closing the entire school for the remainder of the year (I am guessing school ends mid-June?) seems pretty extreme. I am sure the Academic Office would “use a variety of options designed to cause minimal disruption”… but what about AP/IB exams? What if there is a confirmed case May 5 (and the school would then close for the rest of the year)? How/when would those kids take their AP/IB exams (there is a “late testing day” at the end of the exam period, but what happens if the school is closed through June)?</p>