Several Racine schools using technology to fight the flu

RACINE, Wis. (CBS 58) – Parents and school staff have a new way to fight the flu this winter in Racine.

Five schools in the Racine Unified School District are participating in a national health program that helps tracks illnesses among students.

Families interested in the program were given a free smart thermometer that connects to an app where parents and teachers can see what sickness, like the flu, is going around the school.

The thermometers are free for the first year thanks to a partnership between Lysol and the health program company, Kinsa.

Parents can take their child’s temperature and enter any symptoms they have into the app. Then, the data is organized anonymously by grade level. It shows parents what is going around the building and how many kids are sick.

One RUSD nurse says the goal is to prevent the spread of illness.

“I think it’s great to get ahead of things to keep kids in school, to limit the amount of absences due to illnesses but yet also inform the parents ahead of time so they can look at the symptoms and they're not sending their kids to school with these symptoms,” Gifford School registered nurse Sarah Patrick said.

500 schools across the nation were selected for the program. 16 are in Wisconsin.