Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

PROVIDENCE, R.I -- The state Department of Education is now posting daily attendance reports from all public and private schools, in response to growing concerns about the H1N1 virus, also called "swine flu."

Several schools have reported high rates of absenteeism as the flu has spread throughout the state. Last week, a 12-year-old girl from Bristol who attended a parochial school in Portsmouth died after contracting the swine flu.

For the past two years, the department has collected daily attendance numbers for the state Department of Health, which uses the information to track and monitor the course of diseases.

"We have been glad to provide this valuable information to aid the Health Department as it works to protect the health and well-being of schoolchildren and others in the state," Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist said in a press release. "We have decided to develop and publish daily attendance reports so that all Rhode Islanders can have access to this information."

The information will be posted on the Education Department Web site at 12:01 a.m. each day and will contain the attendance rates of the previous day, as well as historical data.

Leave a comment

Please be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published. Name and email are required; email address will not publish.

Name:

Email:

URL:  

Remember personal info?

Captcha:

Type the characters you see in the picture above.