City was too slow to act on flu warning, sez Intermediate School 5 teacher

By Nicholas Hirshon and Bill Hutchinson
DAILY NEWS WRITERS

Friday, May 15th 2009, 4:00 AM

A teacher at one of the three Queens schools shuttered because of swine flu accused education and health officials Thursday night of reacting slowly to the new outbreak.

Dermot Smyth, a sociology teacher at Intermediate School 5 in Elmhurst, said he e-mailed the Department of Education last Friday warning of a high number of students calling in sick.

Smyth, a teachers' union representative at his school, said education officials told him the virus was being monitored and appeared to have run its course.

"We got word back from the Department of Health that the swine flu was not that serious anymore," Smyth said.

As student absences spiked to 50 in one day, Smyth said he realized the malady was far from over and took his concerns to the United Federation of Teachers.

"That's when movement happened," said Smyth, adding that he will see his doctor today about a runny nose and sore throat.

After meeting with union, health and education officials, the city closed IS 5 Thursday and two other Queens schools where the virus appeared to be running rampant.

"It shouldn't just be like that," Smyth said of the frustration of getting swift action. "There has to be a way of getting in touch with them where we don't feel stifled."

Before the schools were closed, Smyth and other teachers took it upon themselves to wipe off desks with sanitizer.

Meanwhile, outside Intermediate School 238 in Hollis, parents and student expressed fear of getting sick and concern for a gravely ill assistant principal hospitalized with the virus.

"I'm just worried," said Sandy Seepersaud, 40, of Hollis.