Story Archive

I Wouldn’t Touch This Guy with a 10-foot Pole

An unnamed teacher at Strong (Maine) Elementary School has been put on a 21-day leave by the school board after parents in the district became concerned. Her crime? She went to a teacher’s seminar in Dallas, Texas. “At this time, we have no information to suggest that this staff member has been in contact with anyone who has been exposed to Ebola,” Maine School Administrative District #58 said in a statement. “However, the district and the staff member understand the parents’ concerns.” The teacher not only didn’t provide medical care for any Ebola victim, the conference hotel was 10 miles from the hospital where an Ebola victim died. The school board took action because a single parent, Matt Dexter, said it was “reckless” for the school to send her to a conference in “a potentially harmful area for exposure.” Other parents supported Dexter, saying the teacher “could have come into contact with someone who came into contact with one of the nurses” who cared for the Ebola victim. Meanwhile, Principal Lee Wannick of Hazlehurst (Miss.) Middle School has agreed to take vacation and stay away from his school for a week after panicked parents freaked out about his summer travel: he went to Zambia to attend his brother’s funeral. The African country is at least 1,000 miles from any Ebola outbreak, and has never had a reported Ebola outbreak within its borders. (RC/Portland Press Herald, Jackson Clarion-Ledger) ...And did all of those parents get their flu shots?