[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 59 (Wednesday, March 27, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18598-18599]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-07040]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[30Day-13-0849]
Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes a
list of information collection requests under review by the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction
Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request a copy of these requests, call
(404) 639-7570 or send an email to [email protected]. Send written comments
to CDC Desk Officer, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC
20503 or by fax to (202) 395-5806. Written comments should be received
within 30 days of this notice.
Proposed Project
School Dismissal Monitoring System (OMB Control No. 0920-0849
Expiration 5/31/2013)--Revision--National Center Emerging and Zoonotic
Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC).
Background and Brief Description
In the spring of 2009, the beginning of H1N1 influenza pandemic,
illness among school-aged students (K-12) in many states and cities
resulted in at least 1,351 school dismissals due to rapidly increasing
absenteeism among students or staff. These dismissals impacted at least
824,966 students and 53,217 teachers. During that time, the U.S.
Department of Education (ED) and the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) received numerous daily requests about the overall
number of school dismissals nationwide and the number of students and
teachers impacted by the school dismissals. CDC and ED recognized the
importance of having a mechanism in place to collect this information
and gauge the impact of school dismissals during the pandemic. Although
an informal process was put in place in conjunction with ED to track
school closures, there was no formal monitoring system established.
Consequently, CDC and ED launched the School Dismissal Monitoring
System to track reports of school closures during public health
emergencies and generate accurate, real-time, national summary data
daily on the number of closed schools and the number of students and
teachers impacted by the dismissals. The system, initially approved
under OMB Control No. 0920-0008, Emergency Epidemic Investigations,
facilitates CDC's and ED's efforts to track implementation of CDC
pandemic guidance, characterize factors associated with differences in
morbidity and mortality due to pandemic influenza in the schools and
surrounding communities, and describe the characteristics of the
schools experiencing outbreaks as well as control measures undertaken
by those schools. In the fall of 2009, CDC's School Dismissal
Monitoring System detected 1,947 school dismissals impacting
approximately 623,616 students and 40,521 teachers nationwide. These
data were used widely throughout the U.S. Government for situational
awareness and specifically at CDC to assess the impact of CDC guidance
and community mitigation efforts in response to the 2009 H1N1 influenza
pandemic.
The purpose of this monitoring system is to continue to generate
accurate, real-time, national summary data daily on the number of
school dismissals and the number of students and teachers impacted by
the dismissals due to public health emergencies. This collection
request includes dismissals initiated for infectious disease outbreaks
or weather related events when school dismissals are recommended by
federal, state or local public health authorities. Respondents for this
data collection are individuals representing schools, school districts,
and public health agencies. CDC has determined that the information to
be collected is necessary to study the impact of a public health
emergency as it relates to community mitigation activities. The
information has been used to help understand how CDC's guidance on
school dismissals has been implemented at the state and local levels
nationwide and to help determine how this guidance might be more
helpful in the future.
Respondents are required to identify their respective institutions
by providing non-sensitive information, to include the name and zip
code of schools and school districts and their dates of closure, as
well as reason for the dismissal (due to illness rates among students
and staff or pre-emptive to slow the spread of infection). The
respondents have the option of providing their position titles, phone
number of the institution they represent, and email address. The
estimates for burden hours are derived from the 627 total number of
reported closures during the fall in 2009. We have multiplied that
number by four as an estimate for a calendar year. Respondents are
providing this information as public health and education officials and
representatives of their agencies and organizations and not as private
citizens. The data collection does not involve personally identifiable
information and should have no impact on an individual's privacy. There
is no cost to respondents other than their
[[Page 18599]]
time. The total estimated annualized burden is 208 hours.
Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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Number of Average burden
Type of respondent Form name Number of responses per per response (in
respondents respondent hours)
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School, school district, or School Dismissal 2500 1 5/60
health department. Monitoring System
Reporting Form.
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Dated: March 21, 2013.
Ron Otten,
Director, Office of Scientific Integrity, Office of the Associate
Director for Science, Office of the Director, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2013-07040 Filed 3-26-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P