Ebola Scare Puts Texas Schools On Alert

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FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - Three schools in the Belton Independent School District, located south of Waco, are shut down on Thursday because two students were on a flight with Ebola patient Amber Vinson. According to superintendent Susan Kincannon, closing the schools will let the district and officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention properly evaluate the situation.

“The health and safety of our students is my first priority,” Kincannon said in a statement. The closed schools include North Belton Middle School, Sparta Elementary School and Belton Early Childhood School. “Canceling classes at the three campuses will allow us to thoroughly clean and disinfect the schools and buses that served them this week.”

Vinson traveled on a Frontier Airlines plane from Cleveland on Monday, one day before she was diagnosed with the Ebola virus. According to CDC officials, she had a low-grade fever at the time. Vinson was one of the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital nurses who helped care for Ebola patient Thomas Duncan before he died.

The CDC began reaching out to Vinson’s fellow passengers on Wednesday. This includes at least 132 people, and potentially more as the plane was used on additional flights before being removed from service on Wednesday morning.

Complete Coverage Of Ebola In North Texas

Meanwhile, a school district in North Texas is opting to remain open, just asking one family to stay home. Officials are keeping a close eye on Lake Pointe Elementary School in the Eagle Mountain-Saginaw Independent School District.

No students from the school were on the flight with Vinson. However, a family member of a student was on the flight. That person is in the military and stationed at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth. The military advised that the entire family — including that student — stay isolated for 21 days.

Nobody in the family has shown any symptoms related to the Ebola virus. The move is said to be just a precaution. The school district is remaining in communication with the military and health officials for updates on the situation.

Parents found out about the Lake Pointe Elementary School student on Wednesday night. And then, on Thursday morning, about 40 percent of the school’s students did not show up for classes. “No school today,” said parent Andrew Larkin. “It’s my wife and I’s job to protect our kids, and my child’s life is not worth it.”

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