The ACT government has not ruled out a return to remote learning as high case numbers and staff shortages continue to plague the territory's schools.
It comes after two Queanbeyan public high schools moved to bring back some home learning amid ongoing COVID-19 infections and staff shortages that forced cuts to classes.
There were 1118 cases of COVID-19 reported across 125 Canberra schools - which includes private and public campuses - in the week ending on Sunday, which was down slightly on the number of cases in the previous week.
But there have been no changes made to quarantine settings for schools, despite the acting chief health officer, Dr Vanessa Johnston, last week confirming revised health guidelines had been given to the Education Directorate.
An ACT government spokeswoman on Tuesday said no ACT schools had needed to close or been "operationally compromised" due to COVID-19, which showed pandemic safety measures were working.
"However, the operation of schools in 2022 is an ongoing challenge and we are aware, when it comes to COVID-19, there are factors beyond our control," the spokeswoman said.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said on Tuesday that all public health settings were under review following a national cabinet decision to explore dropping close-contact quarantine, and the territory would take a cautious approach.
"The point I have made repeatedly is that things can change very quickly and we need to be able to respond very quickly so by not ruling things in or out, we need to assess the situation," he said.
"The advice is there will be new variants of the virus but we don't know yet whether they will be more or less contagious or more or less of a health risk to individuals."
The ACT has not made any moves to scrap quarantine requirements for close contacts and will wait for advice from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee. The committee will provide appropriate advice for each jurisdiction on whether it can ditch the rules, following an agreement by national cabinet last week.
Mr Barr said Prime Minister Scott Morrison tried to "railroad" states and territories to adopt a particular position but was met with "fierce resistance".
Mr Morrison, speaking at the weekend, labelled close contact isolation rules redundant .
"I think it's very sensible to be prudent, to be cautious and to not make grandiose, sweeping statements that the Prime Minister has been doing throughout the pandemic," Mr Barr said.
Meanwhile, most students from Queanbeyan High School and Karabar High School will spend some days learning from home this week.
Queanbeyan High School principal Jennifer Green wrote to parents on Monday to outline the arrangements.
"The best place for our students to learn is in the classroom but the safety and wellbeing of our students and staff is our school's and the department's number one priority," Ms Green wrote.
"We will continue to monitor the situation and advise you when it is safe for all our students and staff to return to our classrooms."
Students in years 7, 8, 9 and 10 would attend school for three days in staggered groups this week and learn from home on the other two days.
Year 11 and 12 students would have scheduled classes for four days in the week, but would work in an online classroom environment at the school on Monday. Students in those years who could remain at home were allowed to do so.
Ms Green wrote that the school had cut and combined classes and found local casual teachers to keep the school running.
"However, due to the number of teachers on leave in addition to the permanent positions we have been unable to fill we are moving to mixed mode delivery options," she wrote in a letter seen by The Canberra Times.
Students who are unable to stay at home would be supervised in the school's hall by senior executive staff.
"This mixed delivery of operations allows every teacher to again focus on learning rather than minimal supervision where learning has not been achievable," Ms Green wrote.
The spokeswoman for the ACT government said schools in the territory were working hard to maintain learning continuity for students, and there were plans in place to deal with staffing disruptions.
"Overwhelmingly, teacher absences relating to COVID-19 in ACT public schools have been managed with existing school resources or through relief teacher pools," the spokeswoman said.
"The ACT government is also aware of the national teacher shortage impacting schools across the country and has actively taken steps to address these matters locally.
"This includes ongoing recruitment and the establishment of the Teacher Shortage Taskforce in partnership with the Australian Education Union. We also know our schools and teachers are working incredibly hard to deliver high-quality education for Canberra students."
