Teacher Quits Ebola-Fearing School Demanding Isolation After Kenya Trip
Susan Sherman quit her job at St. Margaret Mary Catholic School in Louisville, Ken. this week after the school—fearing Ebola—demanded she take "precautionary leave" and place herself into 21-day quarantine following her mission trip to Kenya. There apparently was "strong parent concerns" that Sherman might have been exposed to Ebola, even though Kenya is on the opposite end of the continent from where the virus has been spreading.
Upon her return from Kenya, Sherman was told to place herself into isolation and provide a doctor's note confirming she was in good health. Sherman, who taught seventh and eighth graders and is a registered nurse, opted to resign instead. A spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Louisville told the the Courier-Journal that the school is already working to fill the position vacated by Sherman.
The demand for quarantine is especially puzzling given that the archdiocese acknowledged last month that Sherman's trip should not raise concerns of Ebola infection. From the Courier-Journal:
There have been no reported cases of Ebola in Kenya. Indeed, the archdiocese, in a statement released last month regarding Sherman's trip, noted that the Kenyan village where Sherman was working — the remote village of Migori — is "in Eastern Africa, thousands of miles from West Africa, where the main outbreak of the virus is located."
According to Lexington Herald-Leader, Sherman's husband, Paul, sent a letter to Archdiocese of Louisville saying that the school's and parent's fears were "unfounded." A request to hold an informational meeting about Ebola were apparently rebuffed until the couple's "quarantine" had ended.
