SCHOOL DISTRICT DROPS THE BALL ON MRSA INFO

So less than a week ago, the school district and Maplewood Middle School sent out a frightening letter to parents reporting that a student had contracted MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and issued guidelines for students to keep clean and prevent contracting the potentially-deadly virus.

However, that was it. Efforts to find out more about how the student contracted the infection or if the student was even still attending the school were met with the district refusing to offer more information.

It turns out the student is hospitalized, but it would have been helpful if parents were told if the student was still attending class and if spreading the infection was a possibility. 

Of course, we would not expect personal information or identification to be released, but some further detail to help ease concerns would have helped.

Just issuing a letter that can cause worry without more information is irresponsible.