Important Announcements
As a parent who has a child attending an Iowa City Community School District school we kindly request you participate in an online survey of various aspects of school climate. This survey asks your opinions on the school’s efforts to maintain a strong, safe, and supportive learning environment; quality of staff/student relationships; the availability of health and counseling services; and your perceptions of student risk and problem behaviors such as bullying, alcohol/drug use, and violence.
This survey is part of the District’s Safe Schools, Healthy Students Initiative and will be used to inform Board Members and administrators on school interventions and policy decision. Please be assured your responses will be kept strictly confidential.
The survey is available on the District’s homepage in the current news section at www.iccsd.k12.ia.us.
Please note, the survey is designed to be building specific, if you have children in multiple school buildings, please complete a survey for each building.
This survey will take approximately 8-10 minutes to complete. Your time and assistance are greatly appreciated. If you have any questions or need clarification about this survey, please contact Kerry Wiersma by phone at 688-1000 or by e-mail at wiersma.kerry@iccsd.k12.ia.us.
Important Announcement Regarding H1N1 Vaccine
Due to the limited influenza vaccine supply, the Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) flu clinics scheduled in the school district are no longer open to the public. The vaccines will go to ICCSD staff so that we can keep our staff healthy during this flu season. The VNA anticipate that they will receive another shipment of vaccine later in November and will be scheduling more public clinics at that time.
The VNA and ICCSD apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
H1N1 Influenza
Planning
Iowa City Community School District
The Iowa City Community School District is working with Johnson County Public Health in efforts across the district and community to plan for the H1N1 (Novel Influenza A) influenza. H1N1 is a combination of swine and human flu viruses, but is transmitted from person-to –person. It is spread the same way as seasonal influenza, namely by respiratory droplets that are spread from coughing or sneezing, or touching something with the flu viruses on it and then transferring that virus by touching one’s mouth or nose. Symptoms of H1N1 are similar to regular seasonal influenza, and include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. For more information, see the Fact Sheet (link below)
The school district’s goal is to prevent the spread of H1N1 as much as possible. This will include emphasis on prevention, working with the health department to vaccinate children and at-risk adults when the vaccine becomes available from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control), doing active surveillance to track people with influenza-like symptoms, and communicating with the families and staff about incidence. The Iowa City Community School District does not plan to close schools unless it is recommended by Johnson County Public Health or if not enough staff would be available to continue teaching students in a safe and productive environment.
To help prevent the spread of H1N1, we ask parents, students and staff to do the following:
Stay home when sick: Those with flu-like illness should stay home for at least 24 hours after they no longer have a fever, or signs of a fever, without the use of fever-reducing medicines. They should stay home even if they are using antiviral drugs.
Hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette: Wash hands frequently with soap and water when possible, and cover noses and mouths with a tissue when coughing or sneezing (or into one’s elbow if no tissue is available). Discard the tissue immediately and wash hands after coughing or sneezing.
Early treatment of high-risk students and staff: People at high risk for influenza complications who become ill with influenza-like illness should speak with their health care provider as soon as possible. Early treatment with antiviral medication may be an option. People at high risk include those who are pregnant, have asthma or diabetes, have compromised immune systems, or have neuromuscular diseases.
Please see the links below for more information:
o Iowa Department of Public Health H1N1 Information Sharing
o Iowa Department of Public Health H1N1 Fact Sheet
o H1N1 Frequently Asked Questions
o Iowa Department of Public Health website
Please contact Susie Poulton, Director of Health Services, at 688-1000, with questions or concerns.