When a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official said this week that she had contacted her local school superintendent with questions on how the coronavirus would impact students, at least one suburban Chicago administrator took immediate notice.
“I will tell you I was surprised that school superintendents had immediately become a flashpoint in a public health issue, but as soon as this thing started, we’ve been putting strategies and procedures in place,” Barrington Community Unit School 220 Superintendent Brian Harris said Wednesday.
Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters Tuesday that it’s no longer a matter of wondering if the coronavirus will hit the U.S., but when. Suburban school officials like Harris say they have been preparing for this possibility since the initial outbreak of the virus was reported in China.
At the Barrington district, which enrolls 9,000 students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, Harris said officials have heard from parents who were worried about their children’s proximity to teachers with the district’s Chinese Immersion program, some of whom have traveled recently to China.
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