CINDERELLA — Mingo County Schools officials say they are taking every precaution to prevent the spread of the H1N1 virus.

Mingo County Schools Superintendent Dwight Dials said this morning that he isn’t aware of any confirmed cases of swine flu in any of Mingo County’s schools, but everyone is working to try to prevent its spread.

“I know there has been some absenteeism and I’ve communicated that if people suspect (their children have swine flu) or if they have a child who is sick or running a fever or has excessive coughing, they should keep them home,” Dials said. “We’re trying to be preventive.”

Dials said attendance is inching back up from last week’s absenteeism that was at 1,000 students on Friday. Mingo County has around 4,600 students in its schools, Dials said.

“I think we had 1,013 absent, but I don’t know how many of those were actually sick or (out) to avoid getting sick,” Dials said. “I think the doctors are treating everything as (the H1N1 virus), but I don’t know if we’ve had those cases confirmed. Everytime I hear one has been confirmed I do the follow-up and find that they have flu-like symptoms and are being treated, but it hasn’t been confirmed as swine flu.

“It’s a very awkward, very difficult situation to deal with. We’re trying to be very cautious and very observant. We’re checking temperatures and observing for coughs and we’re being very sanitary and the children are practicing very sanitary techniques and we’re trying to disinfect so that they have a sanitary environment.”

Dials said he’s checking into each and every report.

“Chances are, we’ve got some (cases of swine flu),” Dials said. “We’re working as hard as we can to keep our schools safe and clean and sanitary and we’re encouraging our parents to keep students home if they feel sick or have flu-like symptoms, are running a fever and and have excessive coughing.”

Dials said the situation can’t be taken lightly.

“I think it needs to be taken seriously,” Dials said. “I think every parent has to analyze their own situation and there comes a time when no one can substitute their judgement for yours as a caring and sensitive parent.”

Dials said the school system is going to work with students on attendance due to the swine flu scare.

“We’re trying to be a little more liberal with our attendance policy during this time,” Dials said. “We would rather be safe than sorry. We’re trying to be safe and accommodating.”