HARTLAND - Chalk up another school in the Milwaukee area plagued by the Swine Flu.

Parents at Hartland South Elementary in Waukesha County were told Tuesday to pick up their children after a large portion of the student body stayed home due to flu-like symptoms.

"We did an immediate assessment of student absences this morning," Hartland-Lakeside Superintendent Glenn Schilling told Newsradio 620 WTMJ.  "We reached over 40% absences and were ordered closed (by the Waukesha County Health Dept.) until Monday."

Parents we talked to agree with the district's decision to close school, but wish that the decision would have been made Monday night or early Tuesday morning instead of in the middle of the work day.

School nurse Colleen Beilfuss said they were sending students home with high fevers only to have them return the next day.  She emphasized that it is important for children to stay home for 24 hours after their fever breaks.

 All other schools in the district are still open, Schilling said.

The Waukesha County Health Department is also monitoring other schools with high absence rates.  In Muskego, Mill Valley Elementary School had about 30 percent of its students out sick Tuesday.

Superintendent Joe Schroeder says since the number is holding steady, they have not been ordered to shut down.  Closing is a tough decision, he says, that will be made with the health department's input.

"We have about a third of our students absent.  But, we also have two thirds of our students seeking a day of education," Schroeder said.

 The districts work with the Waukesha County Health Department before closing school.  The county's goal is to keep school open, and they don't have a specific percentage of absences that mandates a school closure.  But the county said a 40 percent absentee rate was too high to keep school open.