Every few years a new disease seems to pop up that causes a short panic. The most recent, SARS, bird flu, MRSA (super-staph), etc, have for the most part been contained or at least prevented from spreading on a large scale in the U.S. by the efforts of the CDC and World Health Organization.

While other distircts have completely shut down, the outbreak HIN1 Influenza (Swine Flu) has put a stop to MISD’s extra curricular activities after school until May 11.

“It’s not fun to deal with, but understandable,” Nurse Tracye Franks said. “The unknown scares everybody.”

With the vass media coverage of Swine Flu, rumors spread and have thus been denied by the administration. According to Mrs. Franks, no confirmed cases of Swine Flu have been confirmed.

“As soon as we know, everybody will know,” Mrs. Franks said.

Upcoming events have been rescheduled until further notice. The SAT scheduled on Saturday, May 2 at Mansfield High School has been moved to Saturday, May 16. This outbreak only has an affect on events that take place outside of school.

“Our district and school are doing what is best for our well being,” Music Director Renee Goodwin said. “I think our media has blown this out of proportion.”

Struggling to find new dates for practice and other shows, the region track meet, the last Improv show and the dance classes’ show have all been moved to later dates. The band trip to Disney world has been delayed to May 29 through June 1.

“It’s just stressful,” Mrs. Goodwin said.

Check therideronline for updates of schedule changes.