Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

LITTLE COMPTON, R.I. -- Suspected swine flu spread through the rural Wilbur & McMahon School last week, sending 80 elementary students -- about a quarter of the school -- home Friday with fevers, aches and coughs.

"All of it was flu related," said Principal James M. Gibney, who attributed the surge in illness to the school's small size and the town's tight-knit community, located at the end of a peninsula.

Students started getting sick on Monday and Tuesday and stayed out for several days in a row. "Parents said it was swine flu," Gibney said.

The good news? Fifty kids came back to school on Monday, "which means we're pretty much on the mend," he said.

Little Compton wasn't alone.

On Friday, 23 schools in Rhode Island reported an absentee rate of 20 percent or higher. Of that number, nearly 70 percent were small elementary schools with fewer than 300 students.

Extra: See how your community and schools are faring by going to projo.com's interactive map of absentee rates around Rhode Island.

 Tags  Little Compton swine flu Wilbur & McMahon School

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