October 2006

Dear Colleague:

In March, the U.S. Department of Education wrote to you about making emergency 
planning for pandemic influenza a priority and asked members of the education 
community to work with their community planning team to create a pandemic flu 
strategy that could be activated as part of local schools' overall crisis plans. 
It is our hope that you and your team have made good progress.

At the Federal level, we have been diligently working to implement our own 
  plans, as well as researching and collecting promising state and local practices 
  from the field. To assist your efforts, the U.S. Department of Education has 
  collected some sample plans, which can be viewed at http://www.ed.gov/emergencyplan/pandemic/. 
  These plans may serve as examples to help you formulate your own successful 
  pandemic flu plan.

To assist in your efforts, we have also made a determination that funds from 
  Title IV, Part A, the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act State Grants 
  program, may be utilized for general pandemic influenza planning activities. 
  Please review the program guidance, which is available at http://www.ed.gov/programs/dvpformula/legislation.html, 
  for additional information about administering these funds.

Enclosed is a brochure that identifies some of the prominent issues that you 
  should consider in planning for seasonal flu, a mild or moderate pandemic flu, 
  or a severe pandemic. We encourage you to share this pamphlet with your local 
  planning partners.

This brochure, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 
  "School District (K-12) Pandemic Influenza Planning Checklist," sample 
  pandemic preparedness plans, and other planning guidance all can be viewed at 
  www.pandemicflu.gov. This Web site 
  is updated regularly with new information and ongoing developments.

We have created an outline to identify some of the common elements that may 
  be central to your plan. As stated in the White House's "Implementation 
  Plan for the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza" and the "Department 
  of Health and Human Services Pandemic Influenza Plan," an important issue 
  for educators during a pandemic will be the decision of whether to close schools. 
  School closure might be necessary to protect the health of students and school 
  personnel, to limit the spread of the virus, or in response to student and/or 
  staff absences. Depending upon the underlying circumstances, the duration of 
  school closure could range from a few weeks up to three months. School closure 
  decisions will require the careful consideration of many factors and coordination 
  with all stakeholders. We are aware that many educational organizations have 
  included the possibility of a prolonged school closure in their pandemic and/or 
  all-hazard preparedness plans, and we strongly encourage you to do so as well.

In addition, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is evaluating 
  the effectiveness and feasibility of prolonged school closure in mitigating 
  the effects of a severe pandemic. We intend to share additional guidance on 
  school closure and other effective community-wide intervention strategies in 
  the coming months. In the meantime, because school closure for any length of 
  time would have significant ramifications, we ask that you engage your state 
  and local governments and other partners to develop a school closure strategy 
  for your schools.

We thank you for making pandemic flu planning a priority. Your diligent preparation 
  now will help us do our best in a crisis. Please contact Camille Welborn at 
  the U.S. Department of Education (202-401-0051 or camille.welborn@ed.gov) 
  if you need further assistance.

Sincerely,

| | /s/                                             | /s/                                                            
| | ----------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------
| | Margaret Spellings
      Secretary of Education | Michael O. Leavitt
      Secretary of Health and Human Services

Enclosure

|Last Modified: 10/18/2006
|-------------------------