Cleveland High School Cleaned Overnight, Teacher Ordered To Stay Home After Possible Ebola Exposure


A Cleveland, Ohio, high school was disinfected overnight after the school district learned that one of the teachers may have come into contact with an Ebola-infected person.

In addition to the thorough cleaning, the Cleveland school district has ordered the teacher for John F. Kennedy High School freshmen to stay at home. District spokesperson Roseann Canfora would not release the name of the teacher to Cleveland, the news publication, or discuss how the person may have contacted the still-unnamed Ebola patient. However, according to WKYC, two other schools in Ohio were closed after the district learned that a school staff member may have traveled aboard the same airplane, though not the same flight, as the Dallas nurse diagnosed with Ebola. Solon Middle School and Parkside Elementary School are closed today as a precaution.

According to Canfora, the district learned about the teacher’s Ebola connection Wednesday night, and had district staff start cleaning the building following guidelines from the City Health Department.

A district press release notes that students, families and staff are not at risk.

After being assured by City Health Department officials that our students, families and staff are not at risk, we nonetheless took a number of precautions to allay any concerns about safety at Cranwood School.

  • Cranwood School families and staff were notified about the precautions we are taking.
  • Overnight, the school was thoroughly cleaned with a bleach-based cleaning solution, according to guidelines provided by the Center for Disease Control.
  • The teacher suspected of having contact with an affected person is at home and will remain at home until cleared by health officials to return to work.

The steps we chose to take at Cranwood School are strictly precautionary and were done to allay any concerns of our students, staff and families, given the nation’s heightened anxiety about the Ebola virus.

With the newly infected Dallas nurse flying just one day prior to her Ebola diagnosis, the two closings and the cleaning of the Cleveland school, Ohio, residents are on alert, and many are frightened of a possible Ebola outbreak. However, the CDC claims the risk is very small, as the nurse was not presenting any symptoms, aside from a low-grade fever, when present on the plane. The CDC is contacting all those who flew on the plane out of precaution.

What do you think? Are schools playing it safe or causing more fear in the community surrounding the possibility of Ebola-contact?

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