A deeper look in DCPS COVID-19 dashboard

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — UPDATE: DCPS created an FAQ page answering a lot of questions. Find them here: https://floridahealthcovid19.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/School-Report-for-Florida-FAQ.pdf

Action News Jax is asking about discrepancies between the Duval County schools' Covid-19 numbers.

The dashboard was created for more transparency and to give parents a tool to make decisions on sending their children to brick and motor schools or take them out.

The dashboard breaks cases down by school, total cases, and how many affect students and staff.

Action News Jax searched through the State Health Department website and found different numbers, for example, Andrew Jackson High School lists two staff members but the state health department reports one.

The school district claims their number is correct.

We found at least eight other Duval County Schools also had an underreported number of cases compared to the state data.

We asked the district why the numbers are different, and it said in a statement,

“The dashboard has always reflected those positive cases that impact school operations. Any time there is a case resulting in contact tracing at the school, it is reported on the dashboard, even if the contact tracing results in no students or staff needing to quarantine. Our goal has always been to give families and community a way to see how the pandemic is impacting schools.

An example of a case that would not impact school operations would be a student or staff member who is fully enrolled or working in distance education and has had no in-person contact with the school. the state website will always show a higher number of cases. hope this helps."

Action News Jax asked the state health department how they obtain school Covid cases, it said in part, "The numbers are based on actual positive test results that are reported to the department of health by entities that provide testing. "

Action News Jax sent seven emails to the state health department over the last two weeks asking if virtual students are listed and how the data is compiled. The health department says they are still working on the request.

Cox Media Group