Coming up with an action plan for your school might be the Business Office's task, but certainly you can help distribute proactive information to parents and students—your schools' first defense against an epidemic. And what better time to share important information then back-to-school night?
Some schools are sending e-mails and updating their Web site to include proactive information. These are both great ideas. However, by taking it step further and having printed materials ready, you're hand-delivering to your parents exactly what they'll need to know.
Also consider including your school's action plan in the event of an emergency. And if you haven't yet established one, think seriously about getting everyone geared up to create one. Parents will want to know what your school is prepared to do in case their child gets sick.
If you're looking for a good starting point, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has prepared what they've named "Preparing for the Flu: A Communication Toolkit" for schools. The toolkit includes a series of PDFs with basic information about how to prepare parents and school administrators for the possibility of school closings (two fact sheets), action steps teachers and parents can take to protect students and communities (three fact sheets), and two Word™ templates schools can send to parents.
The CDC has also initiated a School Dismissal Monitoring System to report school closings related to the H1N1 virus. They offer several ways to report dismissals: online or via fax/email.
One last article that might be of interest, talks to all of our iPhone readers. Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston, have developed a new iPhone app, called Outbreaks Near Me that gives users real-time information about outbreaks in their area. For the full article click here.
