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December 16, 2014

Dear Chief State School Officers:

Now  that we are in the season of influenza, and mindful of other infectious  diseases, the U.S. Department of Education would like to refer you to  information and resources for district leaders, schools, and educators on steps  that can be taken to guard against the spread of disease. We continue to appreciate the work you do to  foster a healthy environment in America's schools and hope that these materials  will support your efforts.

Seasonal  "flu" occurs between October and May and typically peaks in January and  February. The Centers for Disease Control  and Prevention (CDC) predicts that this will be a particularly heavy flu season.   Recently, CDC issued a health advisory  saying that the vaccine developed for 2014-2015 is less effective than usual; however,  CDC encourages  everyone, especially school personnel, to get vaccinated because children are  among the most vulnerable to the disease.

Complete  information about the flu and how to contain and manage it is given at www.flu.gov and at http://www.cdc.gov/flu/. The Readiness Emergency  Management for Schools (REMS) Technical Assistance (TA) Center also has useful resources  and information for addressing infectious diseases as part of a comprehensive emergency  operations plan (EOP), including coping with a widespread outbreak at http://rems.ed.gov/KeepSchoolsSafeFromDiseases.aspx. We encourage you to convey this information  to your district and school leaders and remind teachers, students, and others  to:

- Wash hands often  with soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer;
- Avoid touching  eyes, nose, or mouth;
- Avoid close  contact with those who are already sick;
- Get plenty of  sleep;
- Eat healthy food  and drink plenty of fluids;
- Cover your nose  and mouth when coughing or sneezing with a tissue or the crook of your arm;
- Stay home if ill  for at least 24 hours after fever is gone.

Districts  and schools may want to review their EOPs with public health authorities, as  well as plan for continuity of teaching and learning during a school dismissal,  in preparation for the height of the flu season or other infectious disease  outbreak. As with all health-related instances,  districts and schools should maintain the privacy and identity of individual  students and teachers in conformity with applicable privacy laws.

The  Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa remains in the news, and CDC, the U.S.  Department of Justice, and the U.S. Department of Education have prepared  resources for school districts on this topic. These resources make clear  that, in the United States, Ebola remains a very rare disease that has affected  only a handful of people. To date, no  cases of Ebola in U.S. schools have been identified, and no community  transmission has occurred in schools. The  most likely situations regarding Ebola exposure that educators will face will  pertain to perceived rather than any actual risk.  Nevertheless, the following resources  have been developed for public information and are available at www.ed.gov/ebola-response:

- K-12 Schools  Guidance
- Office for Civil  Rights Guidance
- Office of  Special Education and Rehabilitative Services Guidance
- Continuity of  Teaching and Learning Guidance

We  hope that you will familiarize yourself with these resources and that you will  share them through all of your available networks and communication vehicles to  help ensure they reach the appropriate audiences.



| | Sincerely, 
| | -----------
| | /s/        
| | Arne Duncan