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When the H1N1 flu virus hit this spring, schools were the epicenter, and with flu season approaching again, efforts are underway to keep schools as virus-free as possible.

Local 32BJ held its first Swine Flu Awareness class in TriBeCa Thursday for the city's 5,000 public school cleaners. The union wants to ensure they have all the information they need to keep the schools disinfected and stay healthy themselves.

"I came here today because I wanted information about the swine flu and how to prevent the spread," said school cleaner Juan Rodriguez.

Educators prepared school cleaners for what's widely expected to be a resurgence of the virus that infected so many in the spring.

"When people started getting sick last year, there was a lot of hysteria. Our members really didn't know how to respond," said Linda Nelson, the training director at Local 32BJ. "How at risk were they working in that environment everyday? How could they protect themselves? We felt like we wanted to be proactive before the flu season this year."

Although the first H1N1 class was designed for public school cleaners, all of the union's 70,000 members, including security officers, office cleaners and residential building workers, will be encouraged to take the seminar.

"The idea is that if we do this, then we help support the programs put in place by the city and by private employers to make sure that New Yorkers are protected and that our members are able to do their job of protecting others," said Local 32BJ Secretary Hector Figueroa.

Some of the cleaners who attended the class were worried about working in schools this fall, while others felt confident that they could stay healthy.

"I am concerned about the swine flu epidemic," said school cleaner George Garcia. "It has been going globally and lots of people of have been dying daily of this sickness. I am especially scared because I have two young boys."

"I am not nervous. I try to do everything I can to protect me and to protect the environment that I work in," said school cleaner Gregory Hinds.

The day's most important lesson may be the simplest.

"You have to use a minimum of 20 seconds to wash your hands. How many of us go into the bathroom and wash our hands for 20 seconds?" said one speaker.

The union is hosting three more training sessions on Saturday, in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. They plan to continue offering the classes as long as the epidemic poses a threat.