Flu cases up, snack plan out at BOE

SALISBURY — The Salisbury Board of Education thanked Amanda Halle and Jim Meyer for their years of service and, on another matter, said thanks but no thanks to a proposal for a healthy snack program, at the regular monthly meeting Monday, Oct. 26.

Halle is not running for re-election as Salisbury’s representative to the Region One Board of Education. Regional Superintendent Patricia Chamberlain said, “It’s a huge service — two meetings a month plus committee work.�

“I’ve enjoyed it,� Halle said.

And Salisbury board member Meyer’s last meeting was acknowledged, with thanks and the donation of a book on Impressionism to the SCS library in Meyer’s name.

The board turned down the healthy snack program described by the PTO’s Tracey Kaufman and her cousin, Amy Shackleton, at last month’s meeting.

Shackleton designed the program for the New Marlborough, Mass., elementary school. Board Chairman Roger Rawlings said, “It’s a wonderful program but not right for SCS at this time.�

Principal Chris Butwill said he had talked to the teachers about the idea and the reaction was lukewarm at best. Rawlings suggested the idea might work better at the middle school.

Butwill reported that Barbara Nichols, a member of the now-defunct Salisbury Central Garden Club, which disbanded last October after 93 years of service, had informed him that the club agreed to leave the balance of their funds — some $3,500 — to the school. “We will use it for environmental projects,� Butwill said.

Chamberlain reported “several� confirmed H1N1 cases in the region. The nursing staff at SCS is keeping tabs on children, she reported, and she urged parents to keep their children home if there is any doubt at all.

“If a child is sick, stay home until the child is symptom-free for 24 hours without medication,� she said.

Supplies of the H1N1 vaccine, as well as the “regular� flu shots, have been erratic. As of Monday, Oct. 26, Torrington Area Health District H1N1 vaccination clinics were fully booked for the week.

Chamberlain said that a clinic to provide seasonal flu vaccinations to Region One staff had to be canceled for lack of supplies.

Parents are advised to check the SCS Web site, as well as that of the health district, for updates.