Nov. 2, 2020 – Duval County Public Schools is making a change in how it updates its COVID-19 dashboard in order to accelerate the timing of COVID-19 notifications.
Beginning today, Duval County Public Schools will update its dashboard the day a new case reported to the district is confirmed.
This will be a change from how the district has been updating its dashboard since the dashboard was first launched early this school year.
The original procedure was to update the dashboard following the Department of Health’s completion of a contact investigation, not at the beginning.
The new process will result in more rapid notification for families at the school.
The Department of Health Office of Epidemiology will continue to complete the contact investigations and then work with the school in personally notifying any students or staff that must quarantine as a result.
The change begins with new cases confirmed beginning Nov. 2. Cases reported prior to Nov. 2 will be added to the dashboard following the original process, at the completion of Department of Health’s contact investigation.
Schools will continue to reach out to parents through email, app notification or phone call. The difference is that they will be alerting them when the contact investigation has begun, not when it has been completed.
To receive notification, parents are encouraged to make sure their children’s FOCUS accounts have accurate telephone numbers and email addresses. The district’s communication system uses phone numbers and email addresses associated with each student’s account to share messages. Parents should also check with their schools to make sure they have given permission to receive emails, automated calls and texts.
The goal of the dashboard is to provide families with information about school-building impacts of the pandemic. Therefore, the dashboard will continue to include only those cases in which a Department of Health contact investigation involves the school.
