A stomach bug outbreak at a New Jersey school has caused the district to close all five campuses for the day on Friday.
Classes at all schools in the Ocean Township School District were canceled after a large number of students became sick, school officials said.
In a letter to parents, the school superintendent, Jim Stefankiewicz, said around 18% of students at TOIS, the district’s intermediate school, were home sick Wednesday, and 45% were not at school on Thursday. Typically, around 6% of students are absent on a day.
The school was cleaned with “the strongest possible cleaning agent,” Stefankiewicz said in the letter, and other schools were cleaned “for precaution.” Township Ocean schools was in communication with the Monmouth County Regional Health Commission to “make the appropriate decisions” for the schools.
Friday, the district cancelled classes to thoroughly clean all the facilities.
A notice sent to faculty, parents, and friends said while the middle school seemed to be the only location affected, all schools would be cancelled “out of an abundance of caution.”
The school plans to reopen Monday. A final decision will be made over the weekend.
The school asked in the letter sent to parents that all affected children be kept home for a minimum of 48 hours after having no symptoms.
With News Wire Services.
