Marcus Garvey Academy in Detroit closed for cleaning after high rate of flu-like symptoms
A Detroit school is closed for the remainder of the week after an increase in illnesses among children.
Marcus Garvey Academy is closed until Monday to allow for deep cleaning and for families to monitor their children’s symptoms, according to statements from the Detroit Health Department and Detroit Public Schools Community District.
This week, the school has experienced “an unusually high rate of flu-like symptoms, including student fevers, and vomiting, namely at the early grade levels,” according to the school district’s statement.
The health department said it did not have confirmation on the cause of the illnesses but that it is monitoring and tracing all reported illnesses among students at the school.
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The school district also said in its statement that a kindergartner at Marcus Garvey died last week, but the medical examiner has not determined the child’s cause of death.
Jimari Williams, 6, died April 26 at a hospital, said Tiffani Jackson, communications director for Wayne County. She said the cause and manner of his death were not apparent from the autopsy and are pending routine toxicology tests. She said without cause and manner, his death cannot at this time be attributed to the reported illnesses at the school.
State health department spokesperson Lynn Sutfin referred inquiries about illnesses at the school to the Detroit Health Department, which is handling the matter.
The Detroit Health Department said it is working with the school district and the state health department to assess the apparent increase in illnesses among students at the school. It sent a team to help school leaders with evaluation and is monitoring review of protocols for deep cleaning and disinfecting after it received reports of symptomatic students.
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The health department said parents and caregivers of children ages 4 through 7 should monitor their children for symptoms and seek medical care promptly if their children experience fever, headache, lethargy, nausea/vomiting and abdominal pain.
During a special board meeting Tuesday, board President Angelique Peterson-Mayberry asked others to remember Williams.
The school is located on Van Dyke and has 310 students in pre-K through eighth grade, according to its website.
Staff writer Lily Altavena contributed to this report.
Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com Follow her on Twitter: @challreporter.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Marcus Garvey Academy in Detroit closed for cleaning after illnesses
