[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 233 (Tuesday, December 4, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71797-71798]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-29175]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60 Day-13-0849]


Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and 
Recommendations

    In compliance with the requirement of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 for opportunity for public comment on 
proposed data collection projects, the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC) will publish periodic summaries of proposed projects. 
To request more information on the proposed projects or to obtain a 
copy of the data collection plans and instruments, call 404-639-7570 
and send comments to Ron Otten, 1600 Clifton Road, MS-D74, Atlanta, GA 
30333 or send an email to [email protected].
    Comments are invited on (a) whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have a practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways 
to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, 
including through the use of information technology. Written comments 
should be received within 60 days of this notice.

Proposed Project

    School Dismissal Monitoring System (OMB Control No. 0920-0849 Exp. 
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, 
facilitated CDC's and ED's efforts to track implementation of CDC 
pandemic guidance, characterized factors associated with differences in 
morbidity and mortality due to pandemic influenza in the schools and 
surrounding communities, and described 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 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.

[[Page 71798]]

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 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. Specifically, data collection will 
be utilized to:
    1. Determine the scope and extent of school dismissals in the 
United States during public health emergencies:
    a. Prospectively monitor data to identify schools and school 
districts that have high dismissal rates due to infectious diseases, or 
that implement pre-emptive school dismissals due to other public health 
emergencies due to other reasons when recommended by public health 
officials.
    b. Retrospectively review data collected to describe impact school 
dismissals had on students and teachers
    2. Describe the characteristics of schools and school districts 
with high dismissal rates due to infectious diseases

    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 
are no costs to respondents other than their time.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                                      Average
                                                      No. of          No. of        burden per     Total burden
      Type of respondent            Form name       respondents    responses per   response (in     (in hours)
                                                                    respondent        hours)
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School, school district, or     School Dismissal            2500               1            5/60             208
 public health authorities.      Monitoring Form.
                               ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.....................  ................  ..............  ..............  ..............             208
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    Dated: November 26, 2012.
Ron A. Otten,
Director, Office of Scientific Integrity (OSI), Office of the Associate 
Director for Science (OADS), Office of the Director, Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2012-29175 Filed 12-3-12; 8:45 am]
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