21 | ThisWeek | Thursday,February3,2022 durhamregion.com The information available to Durham families about COVID-19 in their child's school has changed significantly over the past month. Up until the end of December, positive COVID cases in local schools were being publicly reported along with school outbreaks. The province has suspended the reporting of school COVID cases due to changes in access to PCR testing. Instead, the province is reporting total school absence rates each weekday. It's a big change for parents, and one that makes it more difficult to gauge the impact COVID-19 is having in classrooms. Here's what to know to help make sense of the numbers in Durham. WHAT IS A TYPICAL ABSENCE RATE FOR SCHOOLS IN DURHAM PRE-PANDEMIC? School boards in Durham say the average daily absence rate before the pandemic was about five per cent. That can vary a bit from school to school and often rises to between five and 10 per cent in the winter months, when more illness is circulating. WHAT ARE DURHAM'S SCHOOL ABSENCE RATES LIKE RIGHT NOW? On Jan. 28, the province's absence data for schools in Durham ranged from as low as four per cent to as high as 27 per cent. About a dozen local schools were sitting at 20 per cent or above. The rates reflect all absences, not just those related to illness or COVID isolation. The highest absence rates in Durham schools reported on Jan. 28 were: Coronation P.S. in Oshawa at 27.9 per cent, Lakewoods P.S. in Oshawa at 27.8 per cent and Woodcrest P.S. in Oshawa at 27.7 per cent. WHAT HAPPENS IF A SCHOOL REACHES AN ABSENCE RATE OF 30 PER CENT? The province says an absence rate of 30 per cent is the point at which a school is required to notify the local health department. From there, health departments may issue directions or recommendations. There isn't a specific threshold at which a school must close -- the province has said the priority is to keep schools open. "If absences exceed 30 per cent of a school's population, the principal, in conjunction with our health and safety department will contact the Durham Region Health Department who will provide additional direction to the school community," says information from the Durham Catholic District School Board. The Peterborough, Victoria, Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board has so far had one school surpass 30 per cent -- it was not one of its schools in Durham. "In that case, the health unit provided the school a notification letter to distribute to families and staff informing the school community about the spike in absenteeism," the board says. ARE SOME SCHOOL BOARDS STILL PROVIDING INFORMATION ON COVID CASES IN SCHOOLS? Yes -- some local school boards are providing more information than others. On Jan. 5, Durham District School Board trustees voted for the board to report COVID cases to whatever extent is possible. The DDSB has trackers on its website that include each school's absence rate due to illness and number of absences due to illness, as well as each school's number of absences due to a selfreported positive COVID test. On Jan. 28, the DDSB reported 459 absences due to a positive COVID test and 2,889 total absences due to illness. The school with the highest number of absences due to a positive COVID test was Woodcrest P.S. in Oshawa with 24. Conseil scolaire Viamonde, which includes public French-language schools in Durham, is listing positive COVID cases by school on its website. The results come from PCR tests and rapid tests. At the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board, officials say that "as part of our commitment to support student and staff safety and open communication, when we are informed of possible COVID exposures as a result of positive rapid antigen tests or PCR tests, we will share that information with affected classes/ staff and/or buses." HOW TO MAKE SENSE OF NEW SCHOOL ABSENCE DATA JILLIAN FOLLERT jfoller t@durhamregion.com NEWS A TYPICAL SCHOOL ABSENCE RATE IN DURHAM PRE-PANDEMIC WAS FIVE PER CENT Total school absence rates for schools in Durham range from four per cent to 27 per cent, according to data from the province. Dongseon Kim photo About 1,000 students a day are logging into a temporary learning option being offered by the Durham District School Board during the Omicron wave. On Jan. 19 the board launched temporary "broadcast learning" for students in kindergarten to Grade 8. School boards across Ontario are seeing higher than usual student absence rates which can be attributed to illness, isolating due to COVID-19 and families that are anxious about in-person teaching. The DDSB will be doing a re-organization in mid-February, allowing students to move between in-person and virtual learning. Until then, broadcast learning is filling a gap -- it's separate and different from virtual learning, which is interactive. One-hour broadcasts are offered weekdays at 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. with options for different grade levels. Tim Ralph, the DDSB's lead for innovative education, says a team of "very talented" DDSB staff is producing the content, drawing on experience gained from doing broadcasts for the DDSB@Home virtual school. "We're really focusing on student success," Ralph says. "We want kids to be connected to learning every day, to be connected to school." Broadcast learning starts with O Canada and a land acknowledgment -- just as is done during in-person mornings at a classroom. A recent broadcast for kindergarten to Grade 3 students included an early years support teacher reading the book "Over and Under the Snow" followed by a discussion about identifying animal tracks in the snow. "Our teachers that are running this are not television personalities...they're classroom teachers who are now broadcasting to a classroom of 400," Ralph says. "We appreciate everyone's patience as we learn to do this well and serve kids." The DDSB's broadcast learning will be available until mid- February. Other school boards in Durham are also offering versions of temporary remote learning. The Durham Catholic District School Board launched "short-term asynchronous remote learning" on Jan. 24 with plans for it to be in place until mid to late February. 1,000 KIDS A DAY LOG INTO 'BROADCAST LEARNING' JILLIAN FOLLERT jfoller t@durhamregion.com ONE-HOUR BROADCASTS ARE OFFERED TWICE A DAY ON WEEKDAYS WITH OPTIONS FOR DIFFERENT GRADES The Durham District School Board is offering temporary broadcast learning until mid-February. DDSB image