Dist. 158 defends response to staph

Amid questions from school board members and concerns from parents, officials in Huntley Unit District 158 Thursday defended their response to a reported staph infection at Martin Elementary School last week.

After one student at Martin was diagnosed with methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, last week, District 158 canceled after-school activities at its Reed Road campus and took extra measures to clean classrooms and buses.

District 158 school board member Larry Snow implied at Thursday night's board meeting that the district did not clean schools thoroughly enough even after sending students home with letters pledging to "super clean" the campus.

"I think it's reasonable for the teachers to come in and expect their classrooms to be cleaned," Snow said.

But Chief Operations Officer Glen Stewart said that out of hundreds of classrooms in the district, only four were not properly cleaned, and that these were at Chesak Elementary School, where the affected student is not enrolled.

Superintendent John Burkey said the custodial staff cleaning the classrooms had to be pulled away to sanitize buses, some of which could have come into contact with the afflicted student.

"I think cleaning those bus seats was probably a higher priority," Burkey said.

Board members also questioned whether students and parents were fully notified after the case of MRSA.

Board members Aileen Seedorf and Kim Skaja said some high schoolers never received a letter from the district, and Snow said parents should have had the information to decide whether to send their kids to school.

Burkey said the district wasn't able to notify all students at the high school because it dismisses students early but that all students got letters the next day.

The superintendent also said minor mistakes happen in a district as large as District 158 and that board members should bring such concerns to him immediately, rather than waiting until a board meeting to raise them.