Little boy sneezing with tissue outdoors

The Kearney Public School (KPS) District has a plan for flu season, according to an article on the The Independant website. KPS normally functions at “Level One” infection control status, which simply involves normal cleanliness routines, like wiping down doorknobs and cleaning bathrooms. But once a building in the Nebraska district starts to see elevated number of student illnesses and absences, the school increases cleaning procedures.

Custodians complete midday disinfection of surfaces and the administration closely monitors the number of sick students. Currently, four KPS buildings are at an elevated level of the infection control plan.

Once the district starts to see elevated illness levels, the administration also aims to inform students and parents, teachers and staff about how to reduce the spread of germs.

KPS also has a public health designee who consults with the public health department to stay on top of flu or other illness trends.

But while cleaning processes are crucial to infection control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines say that extra efforts may not be necessary. The CDC says that to deep clean for the flu, schools need to both clean and disinfect — cleaning to remove dirt and germs and disinfect to kills the germs — but no special procedures are needed.

"Follow your school’s standard procedures for routine cleaning and disinfecting. Typically, this means daily sanitizing surfaces and objects that are touched often, such as desks, countertops, doorknobs, computer keyboards, hands-on learning items, faucet handles, phones, and toys," say CDC guidelines.