The H1N1 flu virus as seen under an electron microscope. (U.S. Centers for Disease Control)

P.E.I.'s two English school boards have developed a plan on the handling of swine flu and other illnesses, in time for the start of classes Tuesday.

The plan, the result of meetings between school board staff and public health officials, includes having parents keep children with symptoms like fever and cough at home. If they get sick during school hours, they'll be kept in isolation until their parents pick them up.

As well, schools will be tracking who is absent with the flu each day. If there's a spike, they'll pass those numbers along to health and education officials.

However, school closures aren't likely, said Sandy MacDonald, Eastern School District superintendent.

"You know, if three-quarters of the staff at a particular school were sick and we couldn't staff the school, obviously we'd have to take action then," said MacDonald.

MacDonald said it would be up to the province's chief health officers as to whether schools would have to close because of illness.

"And right now their advice to us is not to close schools unless they advise us to do so, and we're going to follow that," he added.

Alcohol-based hand-cleaning stations will be put in every elementary classroom, said MacDonald. Junior and senior high students will be encouraged to wash their hands in bathrooms.

"We're also doing some additional cleaning in our schools, particularly those surfaces where we have many students in contact — doorknobs, handrails, including our buses," said Dale Sabean, Western School District superintendent.

Officials said they're being cautious because school-aged children are among those most susceptible to the swine flu.