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Kansas school district ends semester early amid rising sickness rates

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Students and staff in a southern Kansas school district are starting the holiday break early, but unfortunately, that’s due to a spate of illnesses.

Dexter 471 USD announced on Monday that classes were canceled at the beginning of the semester due to many students and staff being sick.

“We are experiencing a tremendous amount of disease right now and it appears to be spreading at a very high rate,” the district said on social media.

Approximately 3 million people caught the flu. This is where the virus hits the hardest

All planned end-of-term activities, including extracurriculars, will be postponed, canceled or rescheduled to a later date.

“We are not only concerned with student and staff illnesses, we no longer want to continue to spread the disease and end up with students taking it to their extended family (grandparents),” USD 471 said. “We appreciate your understanding as we work to keep our students, staff, and school community healthy. Thank you for your continued support of Dexter Schools $471. We hope you have a wonderful holiday and look forward to keeping everyone healthy and returning.”

The second term starts on January 5.

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