Eagle Heights pupil contracts staph infection

YOUNGSTOWN — The superintendent of Eagle Heights Academy has confirmed that a female pupil at the school has a staph infection.

Alex Murphy said the school was closed Friday for a thorough cleaning as a precaution after school personnel were notified of a tentative diagnosis of the pupil’s staph infection. Test results confirmed the diagnosis Friday, he said, adding that he doesn’t know if the staph was the methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus variety, a drug-resistant strain.

The child is responding well to treatment, Murphy said, adding that he doesn’t know when she would return to school.

Eagle Heights is a Market Street charter school serving 874 children in kindergarten through the eighth grade.

School will reopen on its normal schedule Monday, Murphy said.

Meanwhile, classes at West Elementary, a city school, resumed Friday after the school was closed for two days for a precautionary cleaning after a possible case of staph infection affecting a fourth-grade boy was reported to school officials Tuesday.

Officials were unavailable Friday to report the results of tests in that case.