HUNTER schools are preparing for a possible increase in the number of COVID-19 cases among staff and students in term two, as the state government relaxes rules around close contacts and vaccination mandates.
NSW Secondary Principals' Council president Craig Petersen said there were mixed feelings around close contacts no longer needing to isolate, as long as they have no symptoms and comply for seven days with guidelines including wearing a face mask indoors and doing daily RAT tests.
"On the one hand principals and schools were under so much pressure last term around staff shortages that if we have more staff available, because they're not having to isolate because they're a close contact, that may certainly help make sure we've got more classes covered by the regular teachers as we go into term two," Mr Petersen said.
"But there's a couple of things - if my child's got COVID, okay I might be able to work even though I'm a close contact, but I also may need to stay home and look after my child because of course teachers are parents as well. So I think we've got to be a little bit cautious about the benefit.
"We're nervous about the possibility of increased transmission as a result, we know some people have tested positive for COVID even though they're asymptomatic and we know that there's about a 48 hour window, is my understanding, where you could have COVID but you return a negative RAT result.
"We'll be watching really carefully to see if we get an unexpected increase in transmission in schools and the Department [of Education] is already working around putting measures in place to monitor that."
Mr Petersen said if individual schools saw a rise in cases the department would investigate reintroducing masks, restricting excursions and assemblies and returning to cohorting.
He said it was "critical" for staff and students to stay away from schools if they had any symptoms or felt unwell.
He said most schools still had RATs and he understood the department would respond to shortfalls and distribute more tests in term two.
He said he expected more staff to raise concerns about working alongside close contacts "as people start thinking this through", especially those at increased risk due to age, disabilities, underlying health conditions or being immunocompromised.
Independent Education Union Australia NSW/ACT branch Newcastle organiser Therese Fitzgibbon said she also expected to field more enquiries and to see more people wearing masks at schools.
She said any increased transmission would exacerbate already significant staff shortages.
She said it was "critical" employers undertook risk assessments and reviewed work health and safety policies, taking into account the most vulnerable.
"They need to consult... staff have to be given the right to determine how much they perceive to be at risk and that will vary from individual to individual."
She said it was still unclear how employers would monitor if close contacts followed guidelines, as well as whether employers would require their employees to be vaccinated.
The government will also lift public health orders that require staff in education to be vaccinated, "with vaccine requirements to be based on risk assessments under occupational work health and safety".
Mr Petersen said it was unclear if the department secretary's direction that all staff be fully vaccinated would remain in place after May 13, when he said the order expired.
He said the change had been met with a mix of relief about unvaccinated staff being able to return to work and fill roles, anger from unvaccinated staff who had been dismissed about how they had been treated and anxiety from principals no longer able to reassure families that all staff were fully vaccinated.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Education said it would work with its workplace health and safety team, NSW Health and stakeholders to implement changes and appreciated staff "patience while we finalise the new guidelines and how they will impact our workforce and schools". She said the government was working with NSW Health to finalise school settings before term two began.
Catholic Schools Office director of schools Gerard Mowbray said he was waiting for further guidance from the government and Catholic Schools NSW about the vaccination mandate.
"The safety and wellness of our people and communities remains paramount," he said.
"As we have throughout the pandemic, we adhere to the public health orders and have a variety of work, health and safety procedures that assist us to manage risk for all of our staff and students... our schools will be working with staff and families to ensure those who are close contacts are able to follow the government advice and safely continue to be in our education settings."
There were 2105 new local cases in the 24 hours to 4pm on Thursday.
