Our Elem school has said that if the school is running at beyond 20% absent they will cancel all events. It would be out of our hands. The thinking goes beyond just spreading the flu to everyone. It is also because we sponsor events it foster community involvment, fun and in some cases profit. We would not be able to make a profit if 20% of the school is home sick and not able to attend. We already have a contignency plan if we have to cancel Dinner with santa next month. We will hold a breakfast with the Easter bunny in the spring when everyone should be healthier. At this point the middle school in our area was the only school with a high than 20% absent rate but the kids are getting back in school now.9
I disagree that a school ought to cancel events due to the H1N1, so the same applies to PTO events in my opinion.
While there have been deaths from H1N1 and will continue to be deaths until this pandemic wears itself out, there are deaths in school communities every year from the seasonal flu, meningitis, pneumonia, and other illnesses that travel easily from person to person. The H1N1 doesn't have the same virility to kill or permanently maim like earlier pandemics such as the Spanish Flu of 1918, polio, diptheria or small pox. During those times, it made sense to cancel group events and quarantine people to their homes. To cancel events for H1N1 seems to me to be as logical as canceling events due to the existence of the common cold in the community.
Just include a few large pump bottles of hand sanitizer at your Holiday Pancake Breakfast to show that your PTO is aware of the concerns and has taken steps to promote good health at your event.
I'm interested in knowing what PTOs are doing about events during this flu season. Our school is experiencing a 10% absence rate and has been canceling school events like Grandparents' Day, concerts, reading nights, scaling back Halloween parties.
Our PTO is struggling with whether we need to cancel our activities that happen outside school hours with a big one coming up -- Holiday Pancake Breakfast.
