Schools in the Nanaimo-Ladysmith School District are discovering unintended consequences on learning, as a result of COVID-19.

Scott Saywell, the superintendent of School District 68, says increased absenteeism and failing grades are a direct result of the virus. Saywell says a series of COVID-19 exposures in Nanaimo schools has heightened community concerns, but he maintains students are safe.

There have been 22 exposures at five schools in the district, all of them occurring this month. However, Saywell says statistics show less than two per cent of all school exposures in BC were transmissions that occurred in the schools. Most transmissions happen in people's homes or at unsupervised activities outside of school. Nevertheless, Saywell says when there is a school exposure, students stay home.

Saywell says attendance returns to normal in the week after an exposure. All of the exposure events at Nanaimo schools are expected to be declared "over" by this weekend.

The superintendent says other impacts from the virus are being revealed, as a result of students opting for on-line courses, as opposed to receiving in-class instruction.

Concerns over COVID-19 prompted close to 1,000 students in the district to enroll in so-called "distance learning" courses this year. The move has overwhelmed the district's IslandConnectEd program. It has stopped taking registrations. But Saywell says he's more concerned by how most students currently enrolled in the program are faring.

Saywell says distance learning has also put pressure on the district's finances because of the cost to provide distance learning and at the same time, absorbing the cost to preserve a seat for a student in a school, in case that student wants to return to in-class learning. The district has hired close to a dozen temporary teachers for its on-line courses. The school board will begin discussions about how to pay for increased demand for its distance learning program next month.