Schools Have Role in Federal Flu Plan

Blueprint urges districts to coordinate with their states and health agencies.

A federal plan for responding to a possible flu pandemic places great responsibility on local governments, including school districts, should a human-transmitted outbreak occur.

The report, which the White House issued last week, warns that in scope, a flu pandemic—which could happen if the current avian flu becomes contagious among humans—would be more like a war or a widespread economic calamity than a localized hurricane, earthquake, or act of terrorism. As such, the federal government would have its hands so full that it would be less able to respond directly to local needs, the report asserts.

“Local communities will have to address the medical and nonmedical effects of the pandemic with...