Austin school shuts doors, flu worries

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Another Austin school shut down after a student displays flu-like symptoms.

Regents School of Austin in Southwest Austin just closed for the remainder of the week.

Austin Independent School District also shut down Lucy Read Pre-K on Wednesday after a child there became sick. There is still no confirmation on whether or not that child has the swine flu. Kirby Hall School in Hyde Park also closed until Sunday as a precaution.

The gates are locked up at Regents School of Austin and the school is closed for the rest of the week. An elementary student was diagnosed with the regular flu and so was her mother. Doctors said they should know whether or not it is actually swine flu within the next few days.

Regents is a kindergarten through grade 12 private school with more than 800 students. The school sent out an email notifying parents and posted the closure on their Web site last night. They also beefed up their cleaning schedule earlier this week after news of the swine flu outbreak started spreading.

Health and school experts ask parents to stress hygiene with their children.

"We try to wash hands more often," said Elisa Borah, parent. "Try to watch for any symptoms fever or coughing."

Parents we talked to are doing what they can to protect their kids from swine flu but say it is nice to have area school districts taking extra precautions.

"They are already we versed in germs because teachers have told them about germs," said Borah.

When AISD set up a hotline to answer calls from concerned parents, they received at least 50 calls within the first couple of hours.

"Most of the questions are about are more schools closing," said Kathy Anthony, AISD Communication Specialist. "Those are the majority and they are easily answered."

Wednesday, an elementary school student and her mother came down with the regular seasonal flu, now they are waiting to find out is they have swine flu.

"They’ve been told it could be two to five days," said Rod Gilbert, Head of School for Regents School of Austin. "We're not anticipating that [it is swine flu but] we’re taking precautions like many other schools across the state."

While most of the school districts in the area are sanitizing the schools the best thing parents can do is remind their kids to use hand sanitizer or wash their hands regularly.