DECATUR, Ga. — Two DeKalb County school students who had been living in West Africa have been blocked from enrolling in the school until the family produces proof they are medically safe to enter.
The father of the two students had been working for a humanitarian organization in Liberia and Sierra Leone — two of the countries most ravaged by the Ebola virus — and had tried to enroll his two children at Dunwoody High and Elementary schools.
DeKalb County School Superintendent Michael Therman said an alert school administrator contacted his office. Therman is requiring a letter from the CDC that his children are OK to attend the school.
“I want to compliment the school staff who followed established protocol and immediately notified central office administrators,” Therman said.
This is the memo Thurmond sent to all DeKalb County schools:
“This communication is to notify all principals and administrators and pending approval of an enhanced district infectious disease protocol, no new students from Ebola-affected West African countries, including Liberia, Sierra Leona, Guinea and other affects areas in the United State will be enrolled without proper documentation and approval from the superintendent’s office.”
The family reportedly had moved to DeKalb County in mid-September and have not been in West Africa for more than a month. The county is requiring a clearance from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, not a letter from the father’s employer.