Sars fear brings school absenteeism

Parents who withdraw their children from school through fear of the Sars virus will not necessarily be guilty of truancy, education officials in England say.

As some parents vote with their feet, the Department for Education is leaving it up to head teachers to decide what to do.

Schools have been closed for Easter as the Sars outbreak has been hitting the headlines. Most go back next week.

Tests start the week after - and schools' league table places suffer if any pupils do not sit them.

Kept away

So far the focus has been on independent schools with boarders returning from overseas.

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Some have gone far beyond official advice in quarantining returning pupils, just in case.

In some cases they have done so because of a threat by parents of other children to keep them away.

In schools which have followed official guidance and not quarantined returnees, some parents are keeping their children off school.

This has happened at two private preparatory schools in North Yorkshire, Terrington Hall and Woodleigh, where some pupils have come back from Hong Kong, one of the centres of infection.

'Up to them'

Each school has a couple of hundred pupils and the head teachers said less than 10% were being kept away.

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Woodleigh's head, Michael England, said eight students who had returned from the Far East had been screened before and after their flights and were being checked twice a day.

"We are following all the available professional advice, which is completely consistent," he said.

"But I am not going to criticise the parents who have kept their children a home.

"It is their prerogative. They are fully entitled to take that decision."

At Terrington Hall, head teacher Jonathan Glen said about a dozen children from five families were being kept away, mostly from the pre-school.

"I have told the parents, 'I disagree with your decision but I defend for ever your right to make it'," he said.

Mr Glen said the pupils who had returned from Hong Kong had been quarantined while at home.

Official guidance

A spokesperson for the Department for Education and Skills said that in exceptional circumstances such as these it was up to parents to discuss the issue with head teachers.

It was not taking a view nationally on whether withdrawing a child through fear of infection would amount to unauthorised absence - truancy.

Its advice has been and remains that school or university students from Sars-affected areas are not a risk to others if they have no symptoms.

Advice sent out by the Department for Education's pupil health and safety team says:

• Students who are well should be allowed to continue their schooling as normal
• Students should be advised to seek medical advice if they develop any symptoms suggestive of Sars, up to 10 days after their return
• Students should not return to school if they have any of the symptoms: a fever above 38°C and sore throat, dry cough or breathing difficulties
• If a student has come into close contact with a known Sars case it would be prudent for the student's health to be monitored for 10 days.