Posted at: 08/07/2009 10:44 PM
By: Donny Rowles

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Local Schools Prep for H1N1

(ABC 6 NEWS) -- As federal health officials continue to work on a vaccine to combat the H1N1 swine flu virus, work is also underway to protect the group most vulnerable to the virus, your kids.

Today, the federal government released new guidelines for fighting the virus when kids head back to class this fall.    

Upside-down chairs signal school's still out at Dover-Eyota schools. 

But soon these halls and chairs will be full of kids.

But this year when kids come back, they may have to deal with homework, and the H1N1 virus.

"Every morning we need a full report of how many absences we've had and so forth," says Superintendent Bruce Klaehn.

Superintendent Bruce Klaehn says they focus on both how many kids are becoming ill, and how sick they are.

"What are their symptoms, how many did you get, is it intensifying, is it growing,” says Klaehn.

They're also getting some help from new guidelines released today by federal health agencies.

They want schools like Dover-Eyota to send sick kids home.

"All students and staff should be separated and given protective gear such as a mask until they can leave the school," says Janet Napolitano, DHS Secretary.

But they also want them to try to keep schools open. 

Klaehn agrees because he says even when schools are closed, it doesn't stop the virus from spreading.

"When you cancel school, kids will immediately gravitate toward one another - and they'll go to malls," says Klaehn.

Federal health officials also want plans in place allowing kids to work from home.

Things like take-home work packets and ways to use the Internet to submit work online.

While they hope they don't have to use these tools....

"We're taking steps to make sure that children and teachers are as safe and secure as possible when schools open,” says a government official.

They say they'd rather be prepared if H1N1 comes back to school this fall with the kids.

More than 160 thousand people across the globe have been infected with the virus. 

Experts predict that one third of the population, about 2 billion people, will eventually become infected with virus.