In preparation for flu season, state health officials and school representatives today announced the kickoff of a statewide program aimed at protecting kids from the flu.

The program, Protect Hawai'i's Keiki: Stop Flu at School, will offer free flu shots and nasal spray vaccines to schoolchildren 5 to 13. The shots and sprays will be administered at 337 public and private school statewide over the next few months.

Information packets and consent forms will be distributed to parents this week. Consent forms must be returned to schools by Sept. 5.

"The flu is a very serious illness," said Department of Health director Chiyome Fukino. "It is much more significant than the common cold. Getting a flu vaccination is a wonderful way for us to prevent this disease."

Chiyome said the program hopes to reach out to 50 percent of elementary and middle school students this year.

"We are pleading to parents to help us achieve this goal," she said.

The program, now in its second year, provided vaccines to more than 60,000 elementary and middle school students — approximately 45 percent of total students — last year. It also helped more than 9,000 teachers and administrators get vaccinated.

Hawai'i was the first state to offer such a program, the product of a partnership between the state Department of Health, Department of Education, the Hawai'i Association of Independent Schools and Hawai'i Catholic Schools.

Last year, the $2.5 million program was funded mostly by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a federal health agency.

Federal funding decreased this year, but private groups have stepped up to help finance the program.