Two U-46 schools to reopen Wednesday

After learning the Kane County Health Department had relaxed its guidelines regarding school closure for the H1N1 flu virus, Elgin Area School District U-46 officials moved to reopen two schools days earlier than originally planned.

Ridge Circle Elementary School in Streamwood and Larkin High School in Elgin will both reopen Wednesday, the district announced Tuesday afternoon.

Ridge Circle, in Streamwood, was originally slated to be closed until May 11, Larkin until May 8.

According to a Kane County news release, the health department revised its guidelines based on new guidance issued Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Rather than continuing to close individual schools based on the diagnosis of cases of influenza swine H1N1 flu in students or staff, the health department will instead implement a countywide policy that focuses on keeping all students with symptoms of influenza out of school during their period of illness and recuperation, when they are potentially infectious to others," the release said.

The health department also recommended that schools now closed could reopen as early as Wednesday.

U-46 Superintendent Jose Torres said the district will be following the health department's recommendation to keep students and staff out of the building for seven days if they exhibit symptoms of the flu.

"We'll continue doing surveillance, monitoring attendance," district spokesman Tony Sanders said.

At Larkin, where several Advanced Placement exams were canceled, the school has been working with the College Board to reschedule the tests.

Any exams originally slated to be taking place Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, Sanders said he was currently unsure if they would be taking place or not.