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KVUE's Amy Johnston reports

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The flu left some classrooms in Taylor a little emptier Monday. Taylor High School officials say dozens of students have had to stay home because of the flu.

All day Monday, a steady stream of parents arrived at Taylor High School to pick up sick kids.

"She was just feeling nauseous and dizzy. Not feeling good at all. You know? Very weak," says Daniel Zavala, who was picking-up his daughter.

School officials do know. They've heard those same symptoms over and over -- 168 students were sick out Monday. That's about 20 percent of the student body. While the number of student absent on Monday seems quite high, it was actually worse last week. On Friday, 198 kids were sick. And students aren't the only ones affected. On Monday, 16 teachers and staff members also called in sick.

Monday, the school sent home a letter to parents saying, in part, if your child has any of the typical cold and flu symptoms, please be on the safe side and keep them home for now.

The idea is to slow the spread as much as possible.

"I worry. Hopefully it doesn't go to the other elementaries or Northside School because those are more littler kids and their systems are not that immune yet," says another parent.

No other schools have reported excessive absences.

The Texas Department of State Health Services keeps track of flu cases throughout the state, and so far, there's no part of the region suffering from a serious outbreak of the virus.