Absences related to flu close two Oklahoma school districts

Two small school districts in southeast Oklahoma will close this week because of absences due to flu-like illness.

They are Roff schools in Pontotoc County and Haworth schools in McCurtain County.

Roff Schools will close Wednesday, and Haworth Schools closed at noon Monday. Both may reopen early next week, officials said.

The Roff district has about 340 students in grades prekindergarten to 12, and 140 missed school Monday due to illness, said Michael Echelle, administrator of the Pontotoc County Health Department.

The school will close Wednesday through at least Monday, Echelle said. School leaders did not cancel school today because they wanted families to have more time to find child care.

"The school superintendent chose to take a proactive approach to close the school,” Echelle said. "If you look at prevention, one step is social distancing.”

In the Haworth district, some children have tested positive for swine flu, also known as H1N1, and absences had grown to about 20 percent Monday, said McCurtain County Health Department administrator Rhonda Dennis.

The district has about 580 students from pre-kindergarten to grade 12, according to the state Education Department.

Dennis praised Haworth officials for taking steps to slow the spread of illness.

"I think it is very responsible for school administrators to decide to close at this time,” she said.