March 9, 2015

Dear Parents/Guardians,This letter is to inform you that on Friday afternoon Sacramento County Public Health (SCPH) officials notified school officials and the District office about a suspected case of tuberculosis (TB) at Franklin Elementary School (FES). The student is currently isolated at home and under care; therefore, there is no longer a risk of exposure to students and staff at school.This is a serious matter in our community, and as a precaution, Public Health officials would like to offer Tuberculin Skin Testing at Franklin Elementary School. I ask that you pay particular attention to communication we will be sending you by mail. In following the Sacramento County Public Health protocols, Public Health staff will work closely with school officials to proactively investigate and screen any potential exposures. They will focus on identifying those students and staff who were in the same classrooms as the diagnosed student, so that they can quickly evaluate and provide preventive treatment should it be needed. As part of this process, all parents will be sent one mailing which will contain either one or two letters. All FES parents will receive one general letter informing parents that Tuberculin Skin Testing will be offered at Franklin Elementary School as a result of a suspected case of TB at FES. Some FES parents will also receive an accompanying targeted letter in the same mailing. This second letter specifies that their child may have shared a classroom with the diagnosed student and therefore will be asked to go to Room #4 for Tuberculin Skin Testing on March 17th. These parents will also receive a permission form from Sacramento County Public Health that must be completed and returned to the students teacher on or before the day of testing, March 17th. If you DO NOT receive a second letter and permission form, your child will not be screened at this time.Tuberculosis is spread through the air by someone with the lung form of the disease. That person coughs or breathes the germ out, and it can remain in the air for several hours. Other people who walk through that air can then breathe the germ in. Because of the way TB is transmitted, good ventilation decreases the chance of infection. The bacterium is also killed by UV light, so it cannot survive in sunlight, which also makes outdoor transmission very rare. TB is transmitted through the air and not surfaces and can live a few hours in the air depending on the environment. There is nothing that needs to be terminally cleaned with TB.Our top priority is the safety and wellness of all our students and staff and in maintaining a safe and healthy learning environment. I will use School Loop and the auto-dialer system to provide timely updates.If after receiving the letters this week, you would like more information about tuberculosis, the process of identifying exposure, or other health-related issues, a parent meeting will be held at Franklin High School on Friday, March 13th, at 6:00pm in Franklin High Schools Main Gym.If you have any medically-related questions, I encourage you to contact your physician or Sacramento County Public Health at (916) 875-5881. Please feel free to contact me for any school-related questions at (916) 684-5632.

Sincerely,

Sheila CaruthersPrincipalFranklin Elementary School