WEST NEWBURY — Absenteeism is up in some schools in the Pentucket Regional School District, prompting Superintendent Paul Livingston to issue an H1N1 flu update to parents yesterday afternoon.

Livingston said "a high number" of students for this time of year are absent from the Bagnall School in Groveland due to flu-like symptoms, with the Page Elementary School in West Newbury reporting a "slightly higher-than-typical" rate of students out. The four other schools in the district — Sweetsir and Donaghue elementary schools in Merrimac and the middle and high schools — currently have rates considered normal for midautumn, the superintendent said in a phone interview yesterday.

Although he did not have any information on students who have actually been diagnosed with H1N1 virus, Livingston noted that the testing needed to definitively identify that flu isn't typically administered until a person is sick enough to require hospital care.

He refrained from issuing the exact number of students absent from each school because, he said, in a fluid situation like this, the numbers change daily.

"What's 15 percent (of the student population) today can be 7 percent tomorrow," he said.

There is no unusual increase in the number of staff out due to illness, he added.

But with student absenteeism up since last week — half the students in one classroom alone in Groveland are out — and with sixth-graders in that town heading off to sleep-over science camp, Livingston decided a proactive approach to keep parents updated was best.

"We are monitoring our attendance on a daily basis and working with our school physician and our local boards of health to review this information as necessary," his e-mail to parents stated. "There has been an increase of cases of flu-like symptoms reported across our state this weekend. These patterns can shift very quickly for the better or the worse at any particular school or grade level. The Departments of Public Health in the state and nationally do not recommend closing schools unless there are severe conditions of staff and/or student absence."

Livingston stressed that every family has to make its own decisions about personal health issues. But he wanted to assure parents that the district began preparing for this year's flu season last spring. Hand sanitizers were placed in every classroom and throughout each school's public areas. Health protocols were reviewed with staff and students; building principals distributed information about the proper health techniques in newsletters to parents.

"We are investigating an immunization program for H1N1 should the vaccine become available in time for it to be a viable prevention for the illness," Livingston wrote. A link to the latest updates from the state health department on the H1N1 flu is posted on the district Web site at www.prsd.org.

Livingston said administrators are "taking it day-to-day," adding that he is not overly concerned at this point.

"We have followed all recommended procedures on these illnesses, we have attended conferences and Webinars on this, and we have had a joint meeting of all the public health nurses, school nurses and health agents in all three of our regional towns. The health professionals of our towns feel that we are doing everything appropriately," Livingston's memo stated.

Still, he empathizes with the concerns of families, which is why he felt periodic updates like the one he issued yesterday are important.

"It's a flu; we'll do whatever we have to do," he said.