I NOW know the H1N1 is serious because...

I got an automated phone call from the school district...and it said if you go to the district web site and download a "permission slip", sign it and return with your child...they will get an H1N1 vaccine at absolutely NO CHARGE (we're talking probably well over 1,000 kids just in the ONE high school!) ... in the 39 years we have lived in this school district they have never (to our knowledge) provided any kind of free immunizations! We've never even had so much as a "closed day" of school when the flu would run rampant....any year that I know of.

They must think this is major serious to foot the bill!

Apparently they don't think there will be a shortage of the vaccine...and must be changing the recommendation to include children up through high school.

This was an automated call so thousands of people got the phone call....and the district web site is down...guessing because of all the people trying to logon to print the permission slip.

the thing is..like here they are missing kids EVERYDAY b/c of illness..I think they figure in the long run footing the bill will keep the kids in school. The attendence guidelines here are soooo strict that sick kids are going to school thus getting all the other kids sick as well. They can only have 5 excused/unexcused absenses here a schoolyear. That's why ev1 stays sick all the time

sorry...i hijacked your thread for my rant lol

FlirtatiousBrat said:

the thing is..like here they are missing kids EVERYDAY b/c of illness..I think they figure in the long run footing the bill will keep the kids in school. The attendence guidelines here are soooo strict that sick kids are going to school thus getting all the other kids sick as well. They can only have 5 excused/unexcused absenses here a schoolyear. That's why ev1 stays sick all the time

sorry...i hijacked your thread for my rant lol

Click to expand...

Feel free to hijack....we've had 25% out sick and higher for years with flu but they didn't do anything...but other school districts around would shut down for a day or two... so this really surprised me.

What happens if they have more than 5 excused absences? They have to repeat the year? If so...I could see a lot of kids missing 5 in a row and figure they have the rest of the school year off!

We've only been homeschooling for 3 years with one kiddo and 2 years with the other... and the oldest went all the way through public school ... so we were with the district for 14 years straight ... and never saw anything like this... nor was anything said if they were sick about maximum amount of days...

My younger brother is a senior in high school and his school is doing the same thing this year, my mom got a phone call about it this week too.

I agree with your rant Meg.

Logan's still fighting H1N1 and based on today will likely miss Monday. He is still just wiped out and fighting the cough. So that puts him at missing 6 days. Logan goes to a charter school and their policy is that if a kid misses 7 school days in a row that they have to reapply to continue school there!! So, little man needs to get better and go to school on Tuesday no matter what.

Wow Julie! I would think with H1N1 being as widespread as it is right now they could make an exception for the students who have had it. Especially being that it's better for them to be out of school while sick with it than in school possibly spreading it to others! My SIL's kids go to a catholic school here, and their policy right now is if any child in the family has H1N1 then all the siblings (regardless of whether they are sick also) have to be out of school for I think at least 1 week!

They're doing the shots here too. We're opting out of doing it at the school since they'd require JP to get two shots vs. one because he's not yet 10. His pedi has said that if we choose to vax for H1N1, that he will definitely only do one shot for JP since JP is so close to 10 (Dec 17 birthday). Kids here are allowed 10 days for absence.

With a doctor's note, an absence is excused so it shouldnt count against the kids.

My 4 kids had H1N1 in June.... one missed 9 days and the others missed 5 days.... they all passed with flying colors!

They sent home permission slips for the boys for H1N1 yesterday. The little kids have to get 2 shots so they have 2 clinics scheduled with the primary & elementary kids going to both and the middle & high schools going to one each. Our kids get 10 days off and mine have missed 2 already & will miss 2 more next month (because they only get 3 days at Thanksgiving this year instead of all week like last year & I made plans without checking). Illness could be a real problem for us but at the school meeting last week they said depending on how the winter goes, they may allow some extra days for H1N1 absence.

I'm waiting to find out if they will give the nasal spray to the under 10 kids. The school handout says you can choose, but the state handout that came with it says the under 10 kids will only be given the shot & I'd rather they have the spray

I was going to say I'm pretty sure in most school districts as long as you have a doctor's excuse then the absence doesn't count against the student.

I thought I read somewhere that the government put away XX Billions of dollars for the administration of this vaccination, so I sure hope they don't charge anyone! Still doesn't change my mind, my family isn't going to get it.

ours is excused OR unexcused which I think is ridiculous This is only our 2nd year in a school system..mine have homeschooled before that but when we moved last year we decided since our district is supposedly one of the best in the state that the kids would go to school.

If they miss more than 5 the board just send an attendence letter and I guess an officer will come to the house if it's I think 7? Not sure...never had it happen thank goodness...but it's insane..unexcused I'd understand..but it's both

and Julie I would imagine with as widespread as H1N1 is that they would rather Logan stay home than spread it. I would pick up his missed work though so he doesn't go back too far behind.

they are doing the same thing in our school district, administering H1N1 vaccines free of charge with signed permission slip.

I don't think the schools are paying for it - it's probably just being provided to them.

We are just finishing H1N1 here....I was the last one to get it, all the boys are pretty much recovered even Sam who has reactive airway. My dh had it pretty bad - it's been a long week!

Yikes Emmy! Get your rest and take care of those babies!

I got a survey to see if I wanted my kids to get the vaccine at school. I said no. First, my kids are big shot wimps and I can't see my 15 y.o. son or 9 y.o. dd getting shots without me there. I also just want to be there if they're getting an immunization, even though they're older.

My district has a 7/5/3 rule, or something like that. 7 days in a year, 5 days in a semester, 3 days in a nine weeks. It's only unexcused absences, so a doctor's note would make it excused (and actually, just a parent calling and saying the kid is sick will cause it to be marked excused). It's tied to No Child Left Behind funding -- it's not just test scores, but attendance rates that are part of that. If you have more than the allowed number of unexcused absences, our truancy person will send your child's name to SRS (which is the state child welfare agency). In Kansas, SRS will then ask the parent's permission to open a case for truancy. So basically, it's an empty threat because what parent is going to say, "Sure, open a case against me."

Schools need high attendance rates in order to get funding. Some parents don't put forth an effort to get their child to school every day, for whatever reason. School threatens to report parent to SRS. That's usually enough to scare the parent into getting the child to school. If it goes beyond that, SRS is usually too busy to even get a case worker out to the house in a timely manner. It's ridiculous, but there's a reason behind all the rules.

MamaBee said:

I thought I read somewhere that the government put away XX Billions of dollars for the administration of this vaccination, so I sure hope they don't charge anyone! Still doesn't change my mind, my family isn't going to get it.

Click to expand...

According to my Pedi the Government is footing the bill for this for everyone. I haven't decided if my kids will get it. I am an ER nurse so I get coughed on all day long but I've never been so on the fence about a vaccine before. Right now we are waiting!

I did a bunch of reading today...but I can't seem to find anything that says that if you get H1N1 you won't get it again (aka do those that have already had it need to get vaccinated?) ... maybe it is "unknown" because it is so new??

I am HOPING I can get my son the nasal spray...he is seriously scared of shots...and he got the nasal flu spray and that was the first time since he was an infant that it was easy to get administered (he is 15)! Guess I better call the school and ask...thinking they prob won't do them at the high school level...but maybe I can take him to the elementary with a doctor note? ...or maybe it best I call the pediatrician?

You guys do know that the spray vaccines are considered live virus vaccines, right?

amandabarugh said:

You guys do know that the spray vaccines are considered live virus vaccines, right?

Click to expand...

Yes...the nurse that administered them to my kids told us they couldn't be around their grandmother or great uncle for a minimum of 10 days after getting it (one has cancer and the other leukemia)....

...it took 3 nurses to hold down my middle kid to take blood samples a few years ago...yes THREE...he has a total needle phobia!

Sharon Kay said:

I did a bunch of reading today...but I can't seem to find anything that says that if you get H1N1 you won't get it again (aka do those that have already had it need to get vaccinated?) ... maybe it is "unknown" because it is so new??

Click to expand...

I'm no doctor, but my understanding has been that no, you won't get H1N1 again. HOWEVER, it is a flu, and the flu mutates. So in the future, there could be some other form of it that is going around and you could catch that. Don't quote me on that though!

Our school system allows 5 absences (regardless of excused/unexcused - it doesn't matter) in a school year. Meaning if a child has 6+ absences (even if those absences are accompanied by a dr excuse), the case is sent to a school truancy officer to review. Depending on the truancy officer's decision, the student's file is either marked "high risk" (meaning additional absences will cause the case to be reviewed again) or the case is sent to the state Dept. of Human Resources for a child welfare advisor to review.

I was told that Wes (28 monhts old) could get either 2 separate shots, or 1 nose vaccine (which is a live virus).

pewtertm said:

I'm no doctor, but my understanding has been that no, you won't get H1N1 again. HOWEVER, it is a flu, and the flu mutates. So in the future, there could be some other form of it that is going around and you could catch that. Don't quote me on that though!

Click to expand...

This is what our pedi told us.

amandabarugh said:

You guys do know that the spray vaccines are considered live virus vaccines, right?

Click to expand...

Yes, they are also preservative free which I like. I'm not wild about vaxing for everything in general & if I am going to do it I want as little chemicals etc involved as possible.

pewtertm said:

I'm no doctor, but my understanding has been that no, you won't get H1N1 again. HOWEVER, it is a flu, and the flu mutates. So in the future, there could be some other form of it that is going around and you could catch that. Don't quote me on that though!

Click to expand...

That makes sense!

I can't believe your kids are only allowed 5 days off for the whole year, and that includes dr. notes! That's like one round of the flu, and you've used up the entire years allowance!

Over here, there are no such rules (I think they need a doctors note if it's more than 4 days in a row, but I'm not sure), and still schools and daycares are always complaining about parents sending their kids in when they really should stay home, I can't imagine what it's like when they have to send them! Over here, each parent gets 10 days per year of paid leave to look after sick children (15 each if they have 3 or more kids - and double the amount if they are a single parent with sole/main custody), so I guess they expect kids to be sick more often here!