Bledsoe Schools Closing Due to Illness

Sickness is sweeping through some school systems in the Tennessee Valley, forcing some to shut down.

When it comes to kids, sickness is nothing out of the ordinary. But Bledsoe County School Officials say they've never seen this many kids get sick this early in the school year. That's why they think it's the right call to shut school down for the next couple of days.

The Bledsoe County School system is tackling a large number of sick students by taking the next three school days off.

"This year we had a exorbitant amount of illness seems like for about five days we tracked it at about 16-20% of our enrollment," Brian Osborne, with theBledsoe County School System, says.

Osborne tells us that last year they took two days off for illness. But he says that was in February and far less students were affected.

"The health officials in our school system of course have told us that this is not even the flu season and of course with the swine flue scare we don't know if it's a strain issue or if people are just more susceptible now," Osborne says.

Nine year old Alex Reece is laughing now but his parents tell us both Alex and his three brothers and sisters just missed four days of school due to sickness.

"I had a rash on my arm and I had a fever," Alex says.

"Once this flu whichever one it maybe is out, it just takes over," Frank Krauland, Alex's father, says.

That's why Krauland and Alex believe the time off is just what the doctor ordered.

"I think it's a good decision because of all the kids out in the school system," Alex says.

Alex says he'll enjoy some time in the sun over the next three days,
while school officials hope to score a clean bill of health when everyone comes back.

"This year without a doubt is the most uncommon that I've seen," Osborne says.

You've probably heard it time and time again, but school officials believe they best way to stay healthy is to continuously wash your hands and cover your mouth.

And once again, here are the school districts that will be closed due to illness:

Bledsoe County Schools will be out Friday, Monday and Tuesday.

Marion County Schools will be closed again tomorrow.

Cleveland City Schools will be closed Monday and Tuesday, which extends their fall break.