An eighth-grader at Buffalo’s Harvey Austin School 97 stricken with swine flu and other ailments died Saturday in Women & Children’s Hospital, the first death in Erie County related to the H1N1 virus.

Matthew Davis, 15, who was also suffering from pneumonia and MRSA, was taken off life support about 6 p. m., according to WIVB-TV, Channel 4.

The boy’s mother, Lucretia A. Benton, told WIVB her son had also been facing signs of renal failure.

Davis had been in critical condition earlier in the day, said Philip Rumore, president of the Buffalo Teachers Federation.

Erie County Health Department spokesman Kevin Montgomery said Saturday night that although the agency could not discuss specific cases, the county has had its first death “due to confirmed swine flu-related illness.”

Buffalo School Superintendent James A. Williams issued the following statement on Saturday night:

“On behalf of the Buffalo Public School District and the Buffalo Board of Education, our deepest sympathy is extended to the family of our beloved student,” Williams’ statement read. “We ask the Buffalo community to remember the student, family, friends, and loved ones in their thoughts and prayers.”

Williams said grief counselors would be assigned to School 97 on Monday morning.

Rumore also expressed condolences on behalf of his organization.

“Our hearts are broken and go out to the family of the student,” Rumore said. “Let us all be resolved that we are going to do everything that’s humanly possible to make sure that no other child goes through what this child and his family have gone through.”

Davis was not the only Buffalo Public Schools student battling the H1N1 flu virus. A 9-year-old student at Charles Drew Science Magnet School 59 is also in critical condition in Women & Children’s with swine flu, Rumore said.

Rumore also had a message for parents in the district.

“Please, if your child is ill, don’t send him to school,” Rumore said, “and if they have a high fever for more than a day, please bring them to the doctor’s, bring them to the hospitals.”

Earlier in the day, Rumore accused school district officials of not doing enough to alert parents and district employees to the seriousness of the situation.

“I understand there are privacy regulations, and no one has asked the district to release the names of these students. That’s not what we’re looking for. We pray for these kids,” Rumore said.

“But there are safety issues here for students, parents and employees. People need to be more aware of how serious this is, and the importance of keeping their kids home if they are ill.”

Rumore also noted that 80 percent of the district’s students come to school by bus, an issue that needs to be addressed because a problem could arise if only one of the bus riders comes to school sick.

“We’ve got to think of something to do with the school buses,” he said.

Teachers and parents at the two schools were notified by the district several days ago that the two students had swine flu, Rumore said, but in his view, the district has not made people aware of the seriousness of the situation.

Those allegations were denied by a school district spokesman and drew a sharp rebuke from a top district official.

“I caution anyone insisting that teachers are entitled to the private medical information of students beyond what is present in their student records released by parents or included in our notifications. They are not, and that is how it should be,” said Will Keresztes, associate superintendent.

“The district does not discuss the status of children confined to hospital beds. Suggesting that we should is irresponsible,” he added.

The district over the past two months has sent at least four letters to parents of all children in the district about the dangers of swine flu, according to Stefan Mychajliw, the district’s spokesman.

And parents and staffers in schools where students have been stricken have been alerted by telephone and e-mail, said Mychajliw, who sent copies of some of the communications to The Buffalo News.

“I’m blown away that anyone could make the accusation that we have not done enough to notify people,” Mychajliw said. “We’ve done it again and again, and our biggest message has been telling parents, ‘Don’t send a sick child to school.’ ”

Keresztes said the district has “an effective protocol implemented by our nursing staff, plant employees and building principals based on state and county guidelines.”

A hospital spokesman, John Moscato, cited the same privacy laws as the district, saying he could not release any information unless he gets permission from the parents of the two children.

School officials temporarily shut down the Riverside Institute of Technology after an outbreak of swine flu cases — officially known as the H1N1 flu virus — earlier this month.

As of June 18, there have been more than 17,800 laboratory-confirmed cases in the United States, with 1,600 patients hospitalized and 44 deaths, according to Dr. Daniel Jernigan, an epidemiologist in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s influenza division.

Worldwide, there have been nearly 40,000 confirmed cases in 88 countries, with 167 deaths.