Last Spring a handful of kids in and around Huntsville, Alabama came down with the flu.  As you would expect, they were too sick to go to school, so they stayed home.  But what might surprise you is that nearly 51,000 kids joined them.  All over the city school was closed.  Doors were locked.  Classrooms were empty, playgrounds deserted.  The only sign of life in three school districts for days were cleaning crews scrubbing everything from floor to ceiling with the hopes of stopping the H1N1 virus.

Some parents in North Alabama publicly criticized state, county and federal health officials for telling three entire school districts to close, calling it an overreaction.  Many were left scrambling to provide care for their children who, for the most part, were healthy.

But Danny Walker disagrees.  He has a son in the fifth grade at Harvest Elementary School just outside of Huntsville.  Walker says he wasn’t surprised when all the schools closed in the area.

“I think the schools erred on the side of caution because of the health risks that were involved,”  Walker told me in the school library.  “Overall I think it turned out to be a good plan because it stabilized the spread of the flu.”

Terita St. Julian has a son in the second grade.  She agrees with Walker that health officials and the school districts did what they thought was best last Spring when faced with this new thing called The Swine Flu.

“The school handled everything very well and so I was prepared and able to keep my son home and stay with him.”

Madison County Schools Superintendent Terry Davis calls the decision a collaborative effort between all three school districts, the Madison County Health Department and the State Health Department in Montgomery.

“It was a tough decision because by law we have to go to school for 180 days,”  Davis said.  “So we knew for every day we closed that was one day we would have to push on into the summer.”

But this year is different.  In many cases, school will not be closed.  The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta says instead try to keep schools open unless the spread of the flu interrupts the day to day operations within the district.  They are also telling teachers and principals to separate any students that show symptoms and then send them home right away.  And this year, more than ever, kids are being taught in class proper hand washing, using hand sanitizer and using their sleeves to cover coughs and sneezes.