March 29th at 1:24 p.m., an email was sent out to all members of the Cathedral community notifying them of a possible outbreak of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA). As a safety measure to all students, faculty, and staff, the school will be shut down until Monday, April 2nd, which will be a Gold 5 schedule.
Students will not be able to go and get books or materials from the school until classes resume on Monday. Off campus sporting events will commence, but players and coaches cannot come on campus to get equipment or uniforms.
“As a precaution, we have decided to suspend activities on campus and to cancel school on Friday, March 30th so that our maintenance personnel have enough time to properly clean the facility. This action is a precaution only, but we feel that we are best serving the interests of our students, families, and employees,” said Principal Mr. Michael Deely.
In addition to the first email, an update email was sent to the Cathedral community at 3:26 p.m. officially stating the cancellation of school and any other various activities on campus.
As this email was being sent out, the CCHS Track and Field team was competing in a home meet against University City High School. Students all around the campus were receiving word of the cancellation of school tomorrow and spreading the news quickly. Soon after, Mr. Deely and Assistant Dean of Students Mrs. Marlena Conroy walked out onto the field and gathered all the Track and Field Coaches.
Coach Dan Geiger told his team to gather around, and Mr. Deely took the microphone. Over the loudspeaker he announced that, due to the possible outbreak of MRSA, the meet and any other school activities were to be immediately shut down and that school would once again resume on Monday, April 2nd.
As Mr. Deely said this, many of the team members happily shouted out. But Mr. Deely quickly quieted them down with the request to “have a little more maturity.”
MRSA is a very serious type of staph bacteria.
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), factors that may lead to the spread of MRSA are skin-to-skin contact, openings in the skin, and contaminated items or surfaces. Some symptoms of MRSA are skin infections that may look like a pimple or boil and can be red, swollen, painful, or have pus or other drainage. More serious infections may cause pneumonia, bloodstream infections, or surgical wound infections.
Updates will be posted on the school website athttp://www.cathedralcatholic.org/ . Those with any questions or concerns about the possible outbreak may contact the Health Office of Cathedral Catholic High School at 858-523-4000ext. 1126.
