Local school officials hope revised COVID-19 screening criteria for schools announced by the province will help curb student absenteeism caused by minor symptoms.
The online school and child care screening tool is also being updated and will be available again soon.
Education Director of the St. Clair Catholic District School Board Deb Crawford said she, along with parents and teachers, are very concerned about missed class time recently.
"We're hoping that this screening tool will allow parents to screen their children and then be able to deal with some of these really normal types of health concerns that we all run into in the fall," said Crawford.
Lambton-Kent District School Board Education Director John Howitt said the top priority is always the safety of staff and students and believes the updated online screening tool and screening revisions will help keep the virus out of schools.
"We're absolutely concerned about the absences. A greater concern is a positive case coming into school that could have been avoided through the screening tool if the student hadn't come to school in the first place," Howitt added.
Crawford believes the school year can be completed in the Chatham and Sarnia areas based on the current situation. Crawford and Howitt said the absenteeism rate varies from one school to another and sick students would focus on getting well while isolating students who are not ill would be able to learn online.
Chatham-Kent Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Colby believes the changes will also help avoid sending a large number of students with minor symptoms for testing. Colby said it's highly unlikely students with runny noses and sniffles would be infected with the virus especially in low prevalence areas such as Chatham-Kent.