Being under the weather saved her life.
The secretary of Sandy Hook Elementary School’s principal took a rare day off yesterday — and avoided the bloodbath that claimed the life of her boss.
“Of all days,” the married Joanne Didonato, 63, told The Post. She heard about the horror on TV while resting on her couch.
“I’m sick over the news,” said the shocked staffer before learning that her boss, principal Dawn Hochsprung, was among those slain.
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“They’re saying children are killed,” she said. “I just can’t handle that. We have great kids in our school, and I’m just so upset over that.”
Didonato, president of the union that represents secretaries, clerical staff and technical workers in the town’s schools, said Sandy Hook Elementary staff regularly practices emergency evacuations.
Her daughter Jessica ran to Joanne’s house to comfort her.
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“I’m incredibly distraught, because I could have lost my mother,” Jessica said.
“We’re all thankful she’s safe. She’s worked there a long time. I’m sure she was very close to a lot of the victims.”
After taking over the principal post at Sandy Hook in 2010, Hochsprung credited Didonato with helping her make a smooth transition into the new job.
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Didonato “is a huge support in helping me navigate my new environment,” Hochsprung once wrote in an e-mail to the local Patch news Web site.
“She has a wealth of information about our community and our families.”
Didonato had lived in the Sandy Hook section of Newtown — less than three miles from the school — for years before moving to nearby Oxford in 2011.
Her new neighbor, Jackie Ciampi, said, “She’s a very nice lady. I’m really happy she wasn’t there today.
“She has to be a good person, because someone was looking out for her. I’ll definitely stop and say ‘Hello,’ and say, ‘What a miracle it is that you survived.’ ”