Maple Shade parents struggle with Ebola fears

It started Friday with a memo meant for staff at Howard Yocum Elementary School in Maple Shade.

The school nurse wrote that on Monday, two students were arriving at the K-2 school from Rwanda, an East African nation with no Ebola cases. Even so, the nurse wrote, she was going to take the precaution of monitoring the children's temperatures during school three times a day for 21 days.

That memo came to the attention of parents. It sounded an alarm.

On Saturday, Maple Shade School Superintendent Beth Norcia sent out a message posted on the district's website, saying that even though the children were symptom-free and were not coming from an infected area, their parents had decided to keep the children home this week. That will bring them past the advised 21-day watch period, even though there is no indication they needed to be monitored for symptoms.

Through the weekend and into Monday, questions swirled, concerns were raised. Parents would later complain about lack of information. The media arrived, and the attention was not flattering.

"Our schools have become the unwitting 'face' of our nation's fears with regard to pressing health concerns," Norcia wrote in a message to the community posted on the Burlington County district's website Monday.

The Maple Shade episode highlights the deep fear - some have called it hysteria - among Americans about this deadly virus that until recently had never struck close to home. It also speaks to parents' concern about their children, the desire for information, and the difficulty at times in dispelling fear even when the information is there.

A school district source knowledgeable about the case said the two children are American citizens who spent time in Rwanda, a country about 2,700 miles from Liberia, the closest country tied to still-active Ebola cases.

The children had not attended district schools previously, the source said.

The perceived threat of the children and the plan to monitor their temperatures was "not remotely warranted," said World Health Organization spokesman Daniel Epstein.

If the children had been to West Africa's Liberia, Sierra Leone, or Guinea, or had been in contact with people exposed to the virus, Epstein said, "it would be a cautious move to inquire about their travel and take their temperature."

It could not be ascertained if the school nurse at Yocum acted on her own or consulted with others. She did not return messages left at school and her home Monday.

Eric Arpert, a spokesman for Burlington County, said "stakeholders" like school nurses have been informed on how to respond to suspected Ebola, but he had no information on whether the nurse consulted with the county health department.

The events in Maple Shade speak to a tension that has long existed, according to Amanda Bergson-Shilcock, director outreach for the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians.

That conflict: The desire to look out for the public's health while not penalizing people coming from elsewhere because of public fears and ignorance.

The Philadelphia area, she noted, became home to the nation's first quarantine hospital back in 1799.

"It's an old, old story, and it keeps repeating," Bergson-Shilcock said.

Monday, as youngsters donning Spider-Man sweatshirts and Tinker Bell backpacks were dismissed from Yocum shortly after 3 p.m., many parents and grandparents at the Forklanding Road school said they were not aware of the specifics, but appreciated the cautious approach.

"That's a big responsibility for a school," said Hope Spinelli, 57, of Edgewater Park, as she waited for her 6-year-old grandson. Spinelli's daughter Cara DelValle had e-mailed Norcia after learning of the nurse's memo, asking for further information.

Some said the outcry by some parents painted the town in a negative light.

"It's a shame," said Christine Charley, 43, of Maple Shade, who was picking up her two children. "The majority of people are welcoming."

Several parents said they felt they should be given more information by the district. Some said they saw the district website message or got a robocall, but quite a few said they wanted more.

"As a parent, I just want to know," said DelValle, reached by phone. The 29-year-old clinical supervisor at a dental office asked: "Even on their flight to here, were they with people who were exposed to it?"

That was a question also raised by Steve Fox, 56, as he arrived at the school to pick up his grandson, 6.

"I didn't see anything until the news last night," Fox, a mail carrier, said. "There's probably not a problem," he said, but, "it's better to be safe."

In a message posted to the district website on Monday, Norcia apologized that "a message that originated within our schools created conflict and concern within the Maple Shade community."

None of the actions were "mean-spirited or ill-intended," Norcia wrote.

"If we step back as a community, it is clear that we are of one mind. We all care about our children. New parents were anxious to enroll their children in our public school system. A staff member was anxious to allay any possible fears even before they arose. Community members raised questions about potential health risks to all of our children."

The new students' parents "graciously offered to keep them close this week. Our staff, students and entire school family will be enriched by their presence, as we are by each and every student with us today."