Associated Press - October 21, 2009 11:25 AM ET

CRAWFORD, Neb. (AP) - More than a quarter of his Panhandle district's students have called in sick, so the Crawford superintendent has closed schools for the rest of the week.

Superintendent Dick Lesher said Wednesday that health officials can't confirm the nature of the outbreak, although swine flu is suspected.

A spokeswoman from the Panhandle Public Health District did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press.

Parent-teacher conferences were already scheduled for Friday, so students will miss only two extra days of classes.

Lesher says the district's 237 students are divided into two buildings on the same campus: kindergarten through sixth grade and grades seven through 12.

He says that over the three days, both buildings will be disinfected.

On the Net:

Panhandle Public Health District: http://www.pphd.org/index.htm

Crawford schools: http://www.cpsrams.org/

Information from: KQSK-FM, http://www.doubleqcountry.com/kqskchadron.html

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