Entire school closed due to widespread illness; is third local district to be affected

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    Gales Creek (KPTV) — The entire Oak Grove Academy in Gales Creek was closed Wednesday with nearly half of the school’s staff members out sick with flu-like symptoms.

The school, which is part of the Forest Grove School District, is a therapeutic day school for sixth graders and up and is attended by roughly 50 students.

District spokesperson David Warner told FOX 12 that of the academy’s 30 staff members, 11 were out sick Wednesday.

In addition to the Gales Creek facility being closed, two classrooms operated by the academy inside the Tom McCall East Elementary School in Forest Grove were also closed. Tom McCall itself remains open.

Warner said they’re doing their best to clean and sanitize while the academy is closed.

“With closing a school, I know we’ve had communications with the health department,” Warner said. “But what I know now is school is closed, there’s cleaning going on, and staff have gone home with flu-like symptoms, but we can’t confirm if it’s norovirus or not.”

It’s not the first district to deal with widespread sickness lately.

Just last week, the Sweet Home School District posted on Facebook that one of its students has a confirmed case of norovirus, and several other students were staying home with reported fevers or the stomach flu.

On Monday, that district posted an update, saying a number of students are still absent, and “out of an abundance of caution, classrooms and buses are being cleaned before, during and after school. We are also working with the Linn County Health Department to contain and control the virus.”

The norovirus also hit Greater Albany Public Schools just before Thanksgiving, forcing the entire district to close for a few days. That illness began at Periwinkle Elementary, which had a 25% absentee rate at one point. Schools in that district have since re-opened.

Warner says the Forest Grove School District will decide later Wednesday evening whether Oak Grove Academy can be open on Thursday. Updates will posted on the district’s website.

In the meantime, FOX 12 reached out to the Washington County Health Department to ask what students and families can do to stay healthy.

Deputy Health Officer Dr. Christina Baumann shared these tips:

Get the flu shot. Please contact your health care provider or go to flu.oregon.gov to find the nearest location that offers the flu vaccine.
Wash hands often with soap and water. It’s especially important to wash hands after using the bathroom and before preparing or eating food.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth.
Clean frequently touched surfaces with a cleaning product that works against these germs.
If you’ve unfortunately gotten sick, then please do the following to keep from passing the illness to others:

Stay home and keep kids home if sick to keep from passing illness to others
Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or your arm (not your hands)
Wash your hands frequently with soap and water.

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