[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