Dear GCISD Parents,
The health and safety of our students and staff is our most important consideration. We work diligently to keep you informed of important matters affecting our schools and district, and we have information to share with you.
District leaders confirmed this afternoon that three GCISD students from two different families were on round-trip flights between Cleveland and Dallas with the second health care worker who recently tested positive for the Ebola virus. Two students attend Silver Lake Elementary and one student attends Grapevine Middle School. One of the students also has a sibling at Grapevine High School who was not on either flight.
We also have confirmed that an employee was on the October 10 outbound flight to Cleveland. The employee has contacted the Centers for Disease Control and has been assured that they are not monitoring anyone from the outbound flight. The employee is centrally deployed and does not work directly with students.
None of the students, the employee, nor any family members, are exhibiting any symptoms and are not considered contagious. According to health care officials, individuals are not contagious unless symptoms appear. It is important to note that we do not have any confirmed or suspected cases in GCISD. The families have decided to keep their children home from school as a precaution and the employee also remains home from work this week.
Our local, state and national health officials assure us there is no significant risk of possible transmission of the virus through indirect contact. The Centers for Disease Control has not recommended we perform additional cleaning or implement specific protocols at this time as they assure us this situation is very low risk. Nonetheless, district leaders have decided to proactively implement high-level disinfecting of Silver Lake Elementary and Grapevine Middle as the students on the flights attend those schools. Special cleaning equipment and extra personnel are being brought in to accomplish this task in one evening. In addition, the buses that served these campuses this week have been taken out of service as of this afternoon until a thorough disinfection can be completed tonight.
The districts decision to go beyond recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control was made solely out of consideration for the safety of our students and staff members, and there is no imminent risk to your child. We believe it is safe to continue having school as normal and we assure you that if we had significant concerns, we would cancel classes accordingly. Classes will continue at all GCISD schools on Friday as scheduled.
National and local health officials are emphasizing that the risk of contracting Ebola is very low. The Ebola virus cannot be transmitted through geographic proximity alone or casual contact, or through air or water. The virus is spread by direct contact through mucous membranes or broken skin with the body fluids of a person who is showing symptoms of the illness.
GCISD is working closely with regional health officials to remain up-to-date on current information. We have registered nurses at each of our campuses and they regularly train and practice protocols and precautions when dealing with infectious or contagious diseases. Our staff members will continue encouraging proper hand washing and educating students about healthy habits, and district crews will continue disinfecting environmental surfaces as a proactive step. Enveloped viruses such as Ebola are susceptible to the majority of the commercially available disinfectants in the U.S. In GCISD, our facilities crews use a cleaning product to disinfect surfaces that is effective against enveloped viruses.
We have posted facts and information about the virus and the districts measures to reduce the likelihood of exposure on the district and school website. On this page we also have provided links to fact sheets from the Tarrant County Health Department and the Centers for Disease Control. I encourage you to take a few moments to read these facts and to arm yourself with accurate information about this global health concern.
We understand that you may have questions and it is our goal to keep you informed and to update you regularly as health situations unfold. As always, parents are encouraged to use their best judgment regarding the health and safety of their children.
Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work to keep you informed and provide safe learning environments for our students and staff.
Dr. Robin Ryan
Grapevine-Colleyville ISD Superintendent
