in the Harrisburg school district, were kept home from school on Monday because of possible exposure to the swine flu. The students all either worked or attended an after school program at YWCA daycare in Sioux Falls, which has now been closed due to a probable swine flu case. The Harrisburg students who were kept home inlcude 12-13 in elementary school and four in high school.The Harrisburg school district is now waiting on confirmation of the probable case of swine flu before they decide what to do with the kids. The decision to keep the kids home from school was made by the district, without of the guidance of the state health department. uperintendent Jim Holbeck said the decision was made with the intent to err on the side of caution. He said he wanted to stress that parents should not be alarmed, in part, because none of the 17 kids have shown flu-like symptoms. Still, the district took action because Holbeck said this flu strain is being dealt with in a different way.now, the school would like the 17 students to stay home until they know whether or not the case is confirmed. That could take another day. If the case is confirmed, the district will be in contact with the state department of health about how to procede.

About 17 students

As soon as the district officials learned that there were kids connected to the daycare, they sent out a phone message to parents and they also posted the following message online: "Students who directly attend the YWCA should follow the daycare's recommendation of staying home for two days pending verification of the H1N1 flu."

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"The nation is taking it different," Holbeck said. "The World Health Organization is taking it different. So we're just trying to be as protective of our students as we can be."

When the Harrisburg elementary schools let out on Monday, the parents were certainly talking about the decision. Lisa Mahatoo, who has a son who goes in Harrisburg, says she feels like the connection is being overblown considering the students do not have symptoms, but she says she does appreciate being notified by the school.

"I think that's great," Mahatoo said. "I mean it's letting us be aware and make that informed decision as far as what we want to do for the health of our child."

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