Dear CMS Westies, 

I want to update you on our school’s staff and student absences due to flu and flu-like symptoms.  The number of our staff out ill is on the decline and is about half the number who were out Monday.  While we are seeing some students returning after being out sick the past two days, we still are experiencing a steady trend of students absent or who left school early due to flu or flu-like symptoms. Though this continues to be an unusually high amount of absences for CMS West, our school remains and will remain open and operational as usual.

In addition to advising our families to keep children at home while sick until they are free of a fever for 24 hours without the aid of medication, we also are taking several proactive measures on our campus.  These include: having our teachers wipe desks and other common areas with disinfectant wipes after each class, making hand sanitizer available to our students and teachers in common areas and propping open the main doors of our multi-stall bathrooms to help minimize the spread of germs. In addition, our custodial team with Aramark continues to be intentional about performing a deep cleaning of our building to ensure all areas are thoroughly disinfected and ready for our students to learn.

For those who are out sick, I want to assure you that our students will have the opportunity to make up any assignments, tests or projects missed while absent.  Our teachers will work with our students to ensure that their academic progress remains on track, even if they are out ill.

I also want to thank our families for your support in addressing this situation, including keeping your children home when they are sick and until they fully recover. It remains our top priority to keep your child and all of our students healthy and safe. 

The actions of students and staff also can help prevent or slow the incidence of flu. According to the CDC, the first line of defense is getting the flu shot. Other preventative measures include covering coughs and sneezes, thoroughly washing hands and keeping sick people away from others.  Once again, I am sharing some reminders about Coppell ISD’s Health Attendance Guidelines with you, which are available here.

As always, my team and I thank you for your support of our school community.

Sincerely, 

Dr. Emily Froese