A crisis always seems like something that happens somewhere else - that is, until it arrives on your doorstep. Although other issues and challenges scream for your attention, School Authorities should not postpone developing an influenza pandemic plan. The "Pandemic Planning Guide for Alberta School Authorities" (the "Guide") is designed to assist School Authorities in navigating this process and provide practical assistance on how to prepare an influenza pandemic plan. This Guide does not provide a cookbook approach to pandemic preparedness. Each School Authority has its own history, culture, and way of doing business. Each School Authority can customize its pandemic plan to meet its unique local needs. This Guide is designed to help users anticipate specific issues that may affect the operations of School Authorities and to assist School Authorities to prepare staff, students, and parents for a crisis situation. Some of the information in this Guide is based on common sense, like teaching students to wash their hands and cover their mouths when they cough. Other planning elements will take more time to develop and will require a more coordinated effort. One of the key themes within this Guide is the need for coordination among local, municipal, provincial, and federal officials. Although School Authorities may have experience dealing with communicable diseases, generally this experience has been limited to isolated situations where the medical community knew what the disease was, how to treat it, and how to contain transmission. Although pandemic planning may seem difficult and perhaps unnecessary at the present time, it is much easier to prepare such a plan than to deal with the consequences of not having one. The development of a pandemic plan may also assist to minimize overall anxiety in the wake of an already stressful and potentially fearful event. Two appendices are included: Frequently asked Pandemic Planning Questions and Answers; and (2) Access to Learning Supports during an Influenza Pandemic.