SPRINGDALE — A widespread stomach virus was responsible for keeping more than 300 Hellstern Middle School students home from school Thursday, said Superintendent Jim Rollins.
School and health officials decided to cancel today’s classes at Hellstern to give affected students a chance to recover. Classes won’t resume until Tuesday because Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
“We want to make the best call we can to make sure our kids are as safe as they can be,” Rollins said.
Rollins said 316 Hellstern students — about one-third of the school — were absent Thursday. The problem appears to be specific to Hellstern, as no other schools reported anything similar.
The source of the sickness hasn’t been identified. It appears to have nothing to do with the flu, Rollins said.
“I don’t think we have anything definitive,” Rollins said. “The symptoms our kids have seem clearly to take us to the stomach virus conclusion. Our health officials will continue to try to understand what happened.”
A thorough cleaning of the school already started Thursday afternoon and would continue through the evening, Rollins said.
No decision has been made as to whether the missed day of school will be made up. Hellstern is a school for sixth- and seventh-graders. Enrollment as of Oct. 1 was 918.