Our school has been requested by Sumner County Health Department to participate in a health surveillance project.  At the request of the health department, the school nurse, Mrs. Jordan, RN, will be sending a report every Monday stating how many absences there were during the preceding each week due to illness.  To gain this information, Mrs. Jordan will be checking the school's absentee list each day.  If a student is listed as absent and parents have not contacted the school giving an explanation for the absence, parents will be called by Mrs. Jordan to find out if the absence was due to illness.  Parents can help with this project by making sure to call the school if a student is going to be absent and giving the reason for the absence.  Teachers need to be careful in reporting absences so that unnecessary calls are not made to parents.