Tuberculosis diagnosed in Kennedy High student in Montgomery County

A student at Kennedy High School in Silver Spring has an active case of tuberculosis, health and school officials said Monday.

The case was diagnosed last month, but officials informed the broader school community Monday, said Mary Anderson, a spokeswoman for the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services. The identity of the student has not been released, but students and staff members who have had close contact with the infected student will be tested June 2. Letters will be sent to the entire school community this week.

The student has been out of school since the diagnosis, Anderson said.

Anderson said that people who had glancing contact with the student are not at risk of infection but that students and staff who had sustained contact -- teaching or taking a class with the infected student -- should be tested.

The people who need to get tested will receive letters saying so, Anderson said.

Anderson said an investigation to determine who might have had sustained exposure to the infected student was carried out, explaining the delay between the diagnosis and school officials' announcement. She said the delay between the announcement and the June 2 testing date is immaterial because it would not make a difference in terms of treatment.

At least one teacher, however, said officials waited too long to break the news.

"Some people are very upset," said a Kennedy High teacher, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the school's principal had told staff members not to talk to reporters about the case. The teacher questioned why the community had not been informed earlier and why only some people were being tested.

"The kids are all over the building, and they're in and out of classrooms, and we cover each other's classrooms," the teacher said.

Calls to Kennedy High School were not answered Monday afternoon. Dana Tofig, a spokesman for the Montgomery school system, said that any ban on speaking to the media was probably a misunderstanding and that the school system defers to the county health department in these situations. Parents with questions should contact the school, Anderson said.

-- Michael Birnbaum