SCS awaits word

Things are getting back to normal at the Seymour Middle School Sixth-Grade Center after a gastrointestinal illness forced the school to close Friday.

Principal Becky Davis reported 17 absences Monday, a significant decrease from the nearly 80 students who were affected Thursday.

“We’re not back to normal yet, but we are getting there,” Davis said.

Two teachers who also fell ill were back in the classroom Monday.

There are 300 students enrolled at the school.

“We seem to be much better today,” Davis said.

A representative from the state health department visited the school Monday as part of an ongoing investigation to determine what made students and staff sick with symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting.

“They still don’t know exactly what caused it,” Davis said.

Four students were sent home Monday with similar symptoms, she added.

Custodial staff worked Thursday and Friday to clean and disinfect the building.

“Classrooms, hallways, bathrooms, any place kids touched, we cleaned,” Davis said.

Early on, food poisoning was suspected as the cause, but it, along with H1N1 flu, was ruled out by local health officials, who sent samples off for testing. No word is back on those tests.

The school passed out an information sheet to students to take home focusing on norovirus, which causes nearly 50 percent of cases of gastroenteritis, which is what health officials were tentatively calling the outbreak.