Those planning for an influenza pandemic must be aware of practical and legal issues that could affect schools
Public officials and others planning for an influenza pandemic must be aware of numerous practical and legal issues that could affect school districts and plan accordingly. NSBA Staff Attorney Lisa Soronen submitted a written overview of such considerations, below, when she addressed the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on Modeling Community Containment for Pandemic Influenza about issues school districts could confront if schools were closed for up to three months during a pandemic. School closings are a frequently suggested strategy for containing the spread of infection, and the Washington Post reports below that new data presented this week to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that this strategy was among those instrumental in saving tens of thousands of lives in this country during the 1918 influenza pandemic. The related legal issues range from whether school boards will be able to meet to take required actions under state open meetings laws to whether and how school buildings can be used as temporary health care facilities. Cooperation among school boards and local, state, and federal officials ahead of time is essential to anticipating and addressing the practical and legal challenges that would arise in such an event, Ms. Soronen notes. The Department of Education has posted online resources on school district planning for an influenza pandemic, including Pandemic Flu - A Planning Guide for Educators. The Department of Health and Human Services also has compiled checklists for school districts. Links to these resources also are provided below.
[NSBA statement]
Washington Post
By David Brown
[Full article]
[ED resources page on pandemic planning]
[ED planning guide]
[HHS pandemic planning webpage for school districts]