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 Caruthers
Principal
Franklin Elementary School