MARRERO, La. —
At Ray St. Pierre Academy, roughly a quarter of the school's students were called out sick or went home early on Monday, according to Ted Beasley with the Jefferson Parish Public School System.
Parents of those students rushed to the school to take their children out, like Edward Cassine, who picked up his daughter from the Pre-K to 5th Grade school.
“They say they think it’s flu so there maybe an outbreak of the flu,” Cassine said.
At least 54 students were called out sick and throughout the day dozens more went home early, bringing the total of students missing to at least 110, according to Beasley.
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“A lot of parents called, quite a few did, and told us their kids had a stomach bug and then a lot of kids who were checking out had either flu-like symptoms or a stomach bug,” said Beasley.
“I think as the day went on and word got out among the parents you had some parents just checking out their kids just because they were concerned,” he said.
Finding the origin of the illness is tricky, but according to Beasley there were no issues with any of the school provided food in the cafeterias.
“I would assume it originated with one of the students,” said Beasley. “I don’t think it originated on the campus but anytime you have that many students together I would assume it originated from a kid.”
As a result of these illnesses, students and staff started cleaning classrooms but school officials took it a step further and brought in a cleaning crew late Monday.
“We wanted to bring in heavy duty cleaning staff with the heavier disinfectant so they can make sure they can take care of the germs," Beasley said.
As parents picked up students, many were understandably uneasy.
“Of course that’s concerning,” said parent Kristy Leonard. “You want to know what is going on and what you can do to protect your kid.”
Other parents were pleased the school was taking precautions to stop the spread.
“I have faith in the school system and the health department,” said grandparent James Redmon.
Parents were notified in a couple different ways. Some received phone calls while others got a letter explaining the situation. The school will be open Tuesday but school officials are encouraging anyone with any symptoms to stay home.