For the first time ever, the Brownsville Independent School District will hold a flu vaccine clinic in response to rising flu cases in the district. 

The district plans to administer about 2,000 vaccines at a clinic for staff members at the Brownsville Administration Building on Friday starting at 7 a.m. 

"We need to keep the district going and we need to have our staff, our teachers in the classroom,” Gutierrez said. “Our departments need to be ongoing. I wish I had vaccines for everyone; 2,200 is not a lot for a district our size."

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Over the past three weeks, the district has seen an increase in absences. Officials say one of the main reasons is the rise in flu cases. About 200 students at Brownsville ISD have caught the flu since the start of the school year. 

Back in August, the district had about a 94 percent attendance rate. That's dropped by about five percent over the past three weeks.

The district sent out a memo to parents and staff about flu prevention recommendations to follow, like wearing face masks, practicing social distancing and frequent hand washing.

"Hopefully it can help us slow down the flu, the spread of the flu, and our kids can be back in the classroom and our attendance can get better in the mid-90s like it use to be," Gutierrez said. 

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The district says it will continue trying to make vaccines accessible for everyone, including its students.

"We're going to continue ordering because this is going to be ongoing for the next several weeks," Gutierrez said. "So, we're going to order flu vaccines and make it available for staff and open it up more for students."

The La Feria Independent School District also saw a dip in attendance rate due to flu cases and a stomach bug, according to the superintendent. The district held a flu vaccine clinic for staff on Thursday, and will hold another clinic for students next week.