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Officials didn't bug out, and system worked

Tribune file photos by BILL WARD

Athetes including Ashley Smith, Gabrielle Peek, Kelsey Andersson and Perri Rothenberg passed flu screenings.

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By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 5, 2009

Updated: 05/05/2009 11:34 pm

TAMPA - Man, that sure was a bunch of talk about ... well, nothing.

The swine flu bug really was a bust, at least around here. Freedom High School is open again. And 11 athletes from the school get to compete in the state track and field meet on Friday in Winter Park.

Tempest, say hello to the teapot.

That was my reaction, anyway, late Tuesday afternoon when word came down that the doors will swing open again Thursday morning at Freedom. That was a few hours after the track athletes were given the OK to go to Winter Park on Friday for the state meet, provided they didn't get sick before then.

So after wondering for a couple of days if the boogey bug would ruin their chance to compete, they weren't cast before the swine flu after all.

Perhaps the English Lit teachers in the county can find parallels to this the next time they teach Shakespeare. Say, "Much Ado About Nothing."

At least the county wasn't pig-headed about it, though.

So to speak.

Actually, given the information they had to work with, you can argue that those in charge were properly cautious and reached a reasonable decision. You may need a moment to compose yourself because, on this occasion, the system worked.

People who are charged with watching out for the public welfare did their jobs. Procedure was followed, leaders led, no rules were broken - even though for a couple of days it may have seemed like everybody was so afraid of doing something wrong, they were afraid to do what's right.

Turns out they weren't afraid.

No guarantees

Roger Dearing, the executive director of the Florida High School Athletic Association, sent a letter Tuesday to Freedom students and parents, trying to explain how we got here.

Basically, the health department was looking out for the public well-being, just like it's supposed to. The FHSAA was working with health officials to see if the Freedom kids could compete. Hillsborough school leaders were checking out options.

But nobody really knew how bad this flu bug might be - I mean, it is spreading, albeit without much of a punch. People are getting sick, but then people get sick from lots of things, often with much worse outcomes than this bug seems to have just now.

There is no guarantee someone won't go to the meet healthy and come home sick. These kids have worked their backsides off to qualify for state, though. To lose the chance to see it through over nothing more than suspicion would have been wrong. Fortunately, those in charge did the right thing.

"The person to thank for this solution is your superintendent of schools, MaryEllen Elia," Dearing wrote. "She became personally involved and got the health department director to allow those students to compete this weekend as long as they were cleared."

It was exactly the sort of solution Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio suggested.

"They probably ought to take those 11 kids to a doctor, check them out, see if they don't have any symptoms," she said. "I'd tell them to stay home, not go to the mall, check them out again Friday, and if they're still OK, they ought to be good to go."

Then she said something else:

"There is often a common sense solution to these things. It's not my jurisdiction, but they should be able to work this out."

They fooled me

I don't mind admitting I was wrong. Candidly, I figured everyone would just follow procedure. I figured they'd say it was too bad about the track kids, but that's the way it goes.

Instead, the kids get to compete and the official types can move on to the next crisis. The health department was on the lookout for the general public good and the school system looked out for the kids.

The storybook would end with one or more state championships for the athletes from Freedom, but the real story is that people figured out this was really a whole lot of nothing and acted accordingly.

Sometimes, things actually have a way of working out.

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