An unexpected vacation for Haines Middle School students came to an abrupt end Wednesday when the school reopened two days ahead of schedule after closing last week due to a case of swine flu.

A female Haines student was among 20 people in Kane County who were confirmed to have the H1N1 virus Tuesday as the Health Department caught up with a backlog of tests. The school shut down midday Thursday after health officials notified St. Charles School District 303 that the girl had a probable case of the virus that has caused widespread public concern.

The closure came the day after Rotolo Middle School in Batavia and Marmion Academy in Aurora closed due to probable cases and the same day Batavia High School was closed.

Over the weekend the district announced Haines would reopen Friday, but plans changed Tuesday when the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Kane County Health Department revised their recommendations for school closures.

Haines Principal Charlie Kyle said the unanticipated closure, while inconvenient, would not cause a major disruption to student learning.

“If it had been 14 days like some of the reports said, it would have been disruptive, but we’re OK,” Kyle said outside school Wednesday morning, shortly after students flooded back into the building before the first bell.

The school had to cancel some optional testing and reschedule extracurricular activities — including a student production of “Mulan” — but the school year will end on time and all class material will be covered, he said.

The school and the district will continue to monitor absences and encourage good hygiene practices, Kyle said.

“Other than that, we’re just doing business as usual,” he said. “We’re back in session and everybody’s healthy and ready to go.”

Eight-grade graduation still is scheduled for June 8, and sixth- and seventh-graders will have their final classes the following day.

District spokesman Jim Blaney said the important thing for parents to do now is monitor the health of their children.

“The whole idea now is if a student has a fever of 101 or above, is coughing and has a sore throat ... the Health Department wants them to stay home,” Blaney said. Students displaying symptoms should see a doctor and be kept home for seven days, he said.

Despite the spike in confirmed cases this week, Kane County Health Department spokesman Tom Schlueter said the numbers don’t really matter.

“The disease is in the area, so we want people to take precautions to prevent the spread of the disease,” he said

The precautions include covering the nose and mouth with a tissue when coughing or sneezing; washing hands often with soap and water or using alcohol-based hands cleaners, especially after sneezing or coughing; avoiding touching the eyes, nose or mouth; avoiding close contact with sick people; and staying home from work or school and limiting contact with others if symptoms are displayed, according to the Health Department.

At this time, there have not been any other students displaying symptoms at Haines or other St. Charles schools. The district has not seen a spike in absences since swine flu became a national news story last week.

“Obviously this is new territory for all of us, including the Health Department,” School Superintendent Donald Schlomann said at a news conference last week following the school closure. “We’re trying to err on the side of safety for all students.”

Schlomann said district officials did not know if the girl, whose age and grade the district is withholding, or her family have traveled recently to Mexico, where the virus is believed to have originated.

The girl began experiencing flu symptoms the morning of April 27 and was sent home with a fever higher than 101 degrees after seeing the school nurse. She has siblings at two other district schools, but they have not displayed any symptoms, officials said. They were kept home as a precaution. Officials would not say which schools the siblings attend.

Schlomann said the girl’s health has improved since she went home. By the time school shut down last week, she was already feeling better, he said. District officials would not say whether she returned to school Wednesday.

Kathleen Darling waited for her 12-year-old son Mikell outside Haines on Thursday after the school closed. An automated phone message alerted her to the closing shortly after noon, she said.

“Thank God I’m a stay-at-home mom,” Darling said. “I think we’re overreacting. This is a real hardship for parents.”

Despite the publicity the virus is getting, Darling said it would not alter daily life for her family.

“I don’t think we’re going to change anything,” she said. “I’m making sure the kids are washing their hands all the time, I pulled out some of the (hand-sanitizing) gel, but it’s not going to change our activities.

“If I saw thousands or hundreds of people coming down with this, maybe it would be different,” she said.