Records obtained by the Austin American-Statesman show just how far North Texas school districts were willing to go to assuage parents' Ebola fears last fall. Seven DFW districts -- Burleson, Grapevine-Cooley, Garland, Eagle Mountain-Saginaw, Highland Park, Hurst-Euless-Bedford and Royse City -- spent money on various levels of "deep cleaning" for their buildings, despite an October edict from the Dallas County Medical Society urging against the practice.
"There is no evidence to support 'a deep cleaning' or similar actions for schools or school buses related to the current Ebola situation. Such measures also would send the wrong message about the risk of contracting the disease," the society said.
Highland Park ISD distracted itself from allowing ruinous smut to enter the minds of its student long enough to get in on the hysteria. In response to Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins' daughter's continued attendance at Armstrong Elementary, the school paid $7,200 in overtime to facilities workers and $5,800 for something called "aerosol germicidal spray" for every classroom.
See also: Highland Park ISD Wants Parents to Know They Are Safe From Clay Jenkins and His Family
Garland ISD spent the most of any North Texas district, $31,773.93. The district brought in outside cleaning company to clean North Garland High School and Schrade Middle School after learning that parents of four students had been on the same plane as Amber Vinson, a Texas Health Presbyterian nurse who contracted Ebola after treating Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States.
Royse City was able to keep its expenses to under eight grand by keeping its cleaning in house. After finding out that a district parent treated one of the Ebola-stricken nurses, Royse City ISD closed schools on Friday, October 16, so the district's campuses could be cleaned with bleach water and disposable rags over the weekend.
