TB testing goes smoothly
By Jerry W. Kram
About 96 percent of students at the New Town were tested for tuberculosis on Friday and the results were read on Monday, according to school superintendent Marc Bluestone.
"It was actually one of our better days for attendance in quite a while," Bluestone said in his report to the New Town School Board. "There were only four students whose parents rejected testing outright."
Bluestone said that the Elbowoods Clinic and North Dakota Department of Health were very professional and processed the faculty, staff and students quickly and efficiently on Friday. They returned Monday to read the results of the TB skin tests. Bluestone said six individuals were recommended for further screening, but that the medical professionals believed these were false positive reactions.
"Some people were vaccinated against TB in other countries," Bluestone said. "That can lead to a false positive results. They were unsure of one test and wanted to follow up on that test. Otherwise, there were no positive results."
The staff and faculty of the Middle and High Schools were also commended by Bluestone for their cooperation and for how well they managed their students between the classroom and the testing area. Bluestone also noted that most of the faculty and staff also volunteered to be tested.
