Principals at Blakely and Wilkes are urging parents to keep children with any flu-like symptoms home on Friday due to Halloween activities.

Kitsap County Health District protocols require schools to report any days when 10 percent or more of its students are absent. According to the Bainbridge Island School District, Blakely and Wilkes have reported 10 percent of students absent three times this month.

“It’s not just going to one classroom,” said Pamela Keyes, the school district’s spokesperson. “It’s kids going in and out of classrooms in those Halloween parades.”

The letters also included a note from the school nurse, asking parents to keep children with fevers of 100 degrees or more at home.

“It may be difficult to miss the school parade, but in the very short and long run, the exposure to the flu will only exacerbate the situation in which we are seeing an increasing rate of illness,” Blakely Principal Ric Jones said in his letter to parents.

According to Keyes, the recent absenteeism rates are higher than usual for October, and are commonly seen during winter months.

Sakai and Woodward reported two days of 10 percent absenteeism this month, while Odyssey and Ordway reported one day.

“Our main task is to keep promoting prevention,” Keyes said.

-Victoria Nguyen