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Parts of middle school sanitized after scabies scare, Nakamoto learns
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BAKER – The school district finally alerted parents and staff to a scabies scare Tuesday after WBRZ started asking questions following tips from people with close ties to the school.
> WATCH: Chris Nakamoto reports with more on this story, including why some are upset - Tuesday on WBRZ News 2 at 6:00
A Baker Middle School student attended school last week after becoming infected with scabies, a skin mite that causes severe itching and is highly contagious. The school district alerted the school community about six days after the student showed up at school with the skin infestation and after WBRZ Chief Investigator Chris Nakamoto asked the district about the case.
“No other cases of scabies have been reported… At no time were any Baker Middle School students in close physical contact with the student in question,” Herman Brister, the Baker School System Superintendent, said in a news release issued when contacted by Nakamoto for a story Tuesday.
Brister wrote in the news release the student with scabies went to school “on or about March 28.”
Teachers at the school said that's not true.
"It's definitely a lie," a teacher said. "He was in class. He doesn't take a class by himself. He was in the cafeteria."
Since then, “suspected areas” of the school were cleaned and disinfected, Brister said. He did not define “suspected areas” and was not specific about whether the entire school was sanitized.
Sources told Nakamoto about the situation after becoming frustrated the school district did not release details immediately last week.
"I'm very concerned if they hide something like this which is health, they will definitely hide something they don't want to get out," the teacher said.
The state health department is investigating the matter.
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