Swine Flu School Closings; What Parents Can Do

It is scary to imagine. Hundreds of thousands of students, and their parents, could face school closings due to suspect or confirmed cases of swine flu (H1V1). Overburdened by tight family budgets and inflexible jobs, swine flu school closings pose practical concerns for parents and their communities. Of course, the top priority is children's health, but even one mild case of Swine flu in a community may lead to severe disruptions for both healthy and ill households.

Currently, swine flu school closings span eight states and affect a small percentage of the 55 million students enrolled. Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Education reported that as of April 29 there are "closures of at least 104 schools nationwide... enrolling 56,000 students. Seventy-four of these schools closed because of confirmed or probable causes of H1N1 flu; the rest closed as a precaution."

Yet, there is little discussion on how parents can best cope with the situation, and particularly if there is a drastic escalation of new cases. Planning ahead and networking with other concerned parents should help.

Tips for parents on coping with swine flu school closings: work and daycare

Talk with local school officials -or visit the educational facility's website- first, to learn how swine flu related school closings will be handled by the institution. Utilize the most timely notification system available -be it via email, phone, broadcast and/or Twitter, ensuring that your contact information is current.

Make advance arrangements with your employer concerning the need for time off during the potential swine flu crisis. As several employees with children may be affected by swine flu school closings, it may prove beneficial to both parents and the employer to devise a preliminary work schedule. For instance, non-affected employees -those without young or sick children to care for- may be willing to cover missed days.

Look for backup childcare options. As swine flu school closings can occur with little to no warning and other daycare resources may be overbooked or closed, additional resources may be needed. Investigate new childcare alternatives in advance to determine their suitability and come prepared with all necessary emergency and health-related information for the child.

Start networking with other parents in the community as this may offer a wealth of additional support, childcare options and solutions to coping with extended swine flu school closings. It may benefit parents to join or start a network both online and off to reach the greatest number of concerned parents.

[Some online resources to investigate include Meetup.com and Ning.com, which both proved useful during prior emergency situations -such as last year's hurricanes.]

Find out when your child's school is mentioned online in context of swine flu related school closings. Do so by creating a Google Alert (e.g. school name, swine flu) to be sent to your e-mail or cell phone. Optionally, conduct Twitter searches similarly or by geographical area as can be accomplished on search.twitter.com.

Sources:
Associated Press
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5juw6araWsKtat5t1Fcj6MACPTjjwD97SKRP80
Department of Education
http://www.ed.gov/index.jhtml