Grafton High School students released early due to flu

GRAFTON, Mass. - Grafton High School will close for two days next week and cancel all sports and extracurricular activities because of a suspected swine flu outbreak.

The school department says students will be dismissed at 11 a.m. on Friday and classes not be held on Monday or Tuesday. Other schools in the town will remain open.

Absences have been increasing at the high school for the past five days. School Superintendent Joseph Connors said 236 students were absent with flu-like symptoms Thursday, about 36 percent of the student population. Fifteen faculty members also called in sick.

State health officials say they're working under the assumption that the H1N1 virus is responsible for the outbreak because there's no evidence that the seasonal flu has arrived in Massachusetts yet.