 In California , school districts and universities were on alert and worked with health officials to launch education campaigns . Many planned to stockpile medical supplies and discuss worst @-@ case scenarios , including plans to provide lessons and meals for low @-@ income children in case elementary and secondary schools closed . University of California campuses stockpiled supplies , from paper masks and hand sanitizer to food and water . To help prepare for contingencies , University of Maryland School of Medicine professor of pediatrics James C. King Jr. suggested that every county should create an " influenza action team " to be run by the local health department , parents and school administrators . By 28 October 2009 , about 600 schools in the United States had been temporarily closed , affecting over 126 @,@ 000 students in 19 states . 
