Should Schools Close When Illness Numbers Spike? [POLL]

2026 Has Been a Rough Year for Illness

So far, 2026 has kicked our butts. And we are only in March.

We are a pretty healthy family. I can look at my MyChart and tell you the last time I had the flu was back in February of 2020 (yes, right before COVID). It was rampant that year, especially in schools. Little kids are the best carriers of germs. They lick everything...

My daughter had been ill but got over it pretty quickly. I started not feeling well but toughed it out for a while. But I just kept feeling worse and worse, so I went to the doctor and boom, tested positive for both types of the flu and Epstein-Barr virus (mono). I was one sick puppy.

It took me months to get over it. I didn’t mind the beginning of the COVID shutdown because I felt like staying at home in bed anyway.

The Illnesses Keep Coming in 2026

Fast forward to 2026 and we are going through it again. Just one illness at a time this year. We’ve had COVID, Flu B, and now my daughter is sick again with an illness that has yet to be named (results pending). Each time, we get sick right along with her.

I thought it was just us, but I was at a board meeting last week where several of the people who sit on the board are teachers and administrators. They told us that attendance was down exponentially. Classrooms of 35+ students are down to 10–12.

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Do School Closures Actually Slow the Spread?

Schools in Kentucky have been shutting down to help (shut your eyes if you are triggered by COVID) slow the spread. A couple of the parents I spoke to felt like it worked.

But I was curious how much closing a school for a week will actually help keep kids and their families healthy. A study in Arizona might have some insight. From 2004–2008, researchers analyzed influenza data after a two-week winter school closure and found that influenza cases among school-age children did not increase during school closure. Closures may have prevented or delayed up to 42% of potential cases, suggesting that closing schools during an illness outbreak can slow transmission.

But the CDC has posted that it recommends schools do not close in-person learning, but it does not provide research to back up that recommendation.

How Bad is the Flu this Year

CDC estimates that there have been at least 26,000,000 illnesses, 340,000 hospitalizations, and 21,000 deaths from flu so far this season. And a CDC map puts Indiana in the high alert for flu and Kentucky in the moderate. They stated that Flu A was tapering off but B is going strong. Plus doctors offices are reporting large amounts of strep and an unnamed illness that mimics the flu.

What Do Parents Think?

As a parent, I understand the hesitation to close school. It throws off calendars, it extends the school year into summer break, and it can be hard for working parents or families who rely on school lunch for nutiriton. But, it's also really hard for me to sit here and watch my daughter be incredibly ill with 103 degree temps, vomiting, sore throat, and headaches. And though incredibly rare, illness like the flu can be fatal. There was a record 289+ pediatric deaths in the U.S. in 2024-25.

So, what do you think? Tell us below.