MARTINSBURG, W.Va. –– An elementary school teacher in Berkeley County who recently traveled to Kenya for a missionary trip will not return to her classroom at Opequon Elementary School in Martinsburg immediately.
Manny Arvon, superintendent of schools in Berkeley County, said the teacher — who he did not identify publicly — volunteered to wait 21 days, as a precaution, because of concerns about Ebola. That time period is the incubation watch period the Centers for Disease Control recommends for the virus.
“She was in Kenya which was 3,000 miles from the Ebola outbreak on the continent,” Arvon pointed out on Tuesday’s MetroNews “Talkline.” Ebola has hit hardest in the West Africa countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
However, at a time when everyone is on high alert about the Ebola threat, Arvon said a lot of questions were being raised about the teacher’s health.
“She simply took all of that into consideration and made the recommendation, which I applauded, to stay away from work for those 21 days. Thirteen of those days are actual instructional days,” Arvon said.
The waiting period, he said, should calm any fears within the community tied to Opequon Elementary School. “Even though it wasn’t to the point of any craziness, there were concerns,” Arvon said.
Arvon informed the Berkeley County Board of Education of the teacher’s decision on Monday evening.