On Tuesday afternoon, 5-year-old Steven Connaher seemed listless, and his temperature spiked to 105 degrees.

Diagnosed soon after with the H1N1 (swine flu) virus, the Fond du Lac kindergartener will be out of school at least two more days, until he is fever-free, said his mother, Jess Connaher.

“I was a little worried, but I tried to stay on top of everything,” Jess said. “I was surprised by the number of panicked parents in the doctor’s waiting room. As long as you are responsible about this virus, there is no reason to worry.”

She reported her pediatrician’s waiting room was packed with patients.

School administrators share in parental concern over the highly contagious influenza sweeping through classrooms throughout the state. From Green Bay to Greendale, Wisconsin school districts are following health department recommendations to temporarily shut down when student absentee rates reach 30 percent.

In Fond du Lac, parents are noticing more empty desks, and children with flu-like symptoms are being sent home. As the biggest school district in the county, the spread of the H1N1 virus is imminent.

Stay home

“We’ve had pockets of cases at individual schools, one fourth grade here, another fifth grade there, but there’s no rhyme or reason for it,” said Marian Sheridan, coordinator of school health and safety programs. The absentee rate for the district is hovering around 10 percent.

Just down the road, between 4 and 7 percent of the North Fond du Lac study body are calling in sick, said Superintendent Aaron Sadoff. In a few instances, the illness has been confirmed as swine flu, although health officials are only testing the most severe cases.

“We are trying to do everything we can to ensure parents keep their kids home when they are sick. We have a lot of concerned parents, but this is a fact of life that we have to deal with,” Sadoff said.

Parents are reminded that keeping a sick child home from school until 24 hours after he or she is free of fever (100 degrees Fahrenheit) without the aid of medication is the safest way to prevent the spread of illness.

Last week at Ripon Middle School, about 21 percent of students were out sick with what officials believe to be swine flu, said Business Manager Rick Ketter.

“Most of the eighth grade was absent on Monday. We attribute that to them being all together at an eighth-grade jamboree held Friday night,” he said.

‘Best we can’

Waupun Area School District Nurse Julie Bronkhorst said her health office has been busy as it tries to keep on top of all reported absences, which is about 8 percent of the student body. The highest concentration is at the junior high and high school.

“We are sending students home, with a guideline sheet from the county,” she said. “We are doing the best we can.”

The Rosendale-Brandon School District is monitoring the student absentee list twice a day, and making a separate list of students who have a fever — a major component of swine flu.

“There’s been no alarming percentages except for two days. The highest we ever got was 14 percent total reported illness in one building,” said Superintendent Gary Hansen.

Lomira school nurse Noreen Krischer said smaller school districts have an easier time following up on students, and making sure kids are kept home. About 5 percent of their students have called in sick.

Custodians have been “fogging” (disinfecting) the rooms in New Holstein if there appears to be an outbreak of illness in a given classroom.

“Last week, we had up to 50 students out at the elementary school. There was a bout in the middle school when the seventh grade went on a camp-out in Green Lake,” said Superintendent Chris Nelson.

In Horicon, school leader Gary Berger said the rate is still under 10 percent.

“If and when this thing does strike, there are some tough decisions that need to be made. There are so many different factors involved,” he said.

Fond du Lac County Health Officer Diane Cappozzo said siblings of sick children can still attend school if they do not exhibit any swine flu-like symptoms. And students who may have had an unconfirmed case of swine flu are still encouraged to get the vaccine, when it comes around.

“We stress that people just have to be patient,” she said.

Mayville Superintendent Ron Bieri echoes the sentiments of all school officials as he awaits the arrival of the delayed, but promised H1N1 vaccine.

“We are anxiously waiting. We just keep monitoring and waiting,” he said.