CRANE - The Crane Independent School District was not able to give much information on a chlamydia outbreak, but one person tells NewsWest 9 that it's actually making him think twice about living there. 
 
 "I mean I have a kid, honestly I don't want my kid growing up in an area where nasty stuff like that happens," Edward Martinez said. 
 
 A chlamydia outbreak in the small town of Crane got the whole town talking. One woman, who has younger kids now, says it's something she hopes her kids never have to deal with. 
 
 "I'd sit my kids down and have a big talk with them, you know," Diana Martinez said. 
 
 Word of the outbreak got around on Friday through the school district, who confirmed they will be sending out letters to parents through the State of Texas Health Department. 
 
 Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) that can be very dangerous, as it often shows no symptoms in early stages. Although it can be treated, many say it's important to know the risks. 
 
 "Honestly this happens in any town, but just for it to hit close to home, I mean parents need to be aware of the situation and make sure they tell their kids to be safe and practice safe sex," Diana said. 
 
 Some parents we spoke with said they hadn't heard of the outbreak and still haven't received a letter from the school district. Others say they have heard rumors of an STD problem in Crane before, but never knew it would get this bad. 
 
 "And I guess now that it's actually getting big, especially if it's coming out in the news, I mean that's pretty nasty," Edward said. 
 
 Crane ISD did not want to comment on the outbreak at this time. NewsWest 9 is still working on getting a copy of the letter that will be sent home to parents. Health care professionals in Crane also declined to comment. 
 
 Stick with NewsWest 9 as we continue to follow this developing story. 

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 Click through the slideshow to see a list of the U.S. states with the highest rates of STDs. 
 
 A high school in Crane is dealing with a Chlamydia outbreak after 20 cases were reported at the school. 
 
 Officials with the Crane Independent School District are meeting to discuss their sex education program after nearly two dozen cases of Chlamydia were reported among the high school student body. 
 
 KOSA-TV reported the Crane Independent School District sent a letter to parents last week regarding 20 cases of chlamydia among the Crane High School student population, which totals about 300 students. 
 
 Those letters were sent to the parents of both senior and junior students as a precaution. The Texas Department of State Health Services notified both Crane and Upton County officials after a significant numbers of cases were identified. 
 
 The high school has three days of sex education in the fall semester for students, with the curriculum including abstinence. Crane ISD Superintendent Jim T. Rumage cited abstinence as a useful methodology for keeping kids away from sexual activity in a phone interview Monday. 
 
 “If kids are not having any sexual activity, they can’t get this disease … That’s not a bad program,” Rumage said. 
 
 RELATED: Child tested for STDs after blowing up used condom 
 
 Rumage said officials are meeting today to develop a curriculum that will be recommended to the school board on May 19. 
 
 Chlamydia is a treatable sexually transmitted disease, but can lead to permanent damage in women’s reproductive systems. Men rarely have lasting health problems linked to the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 
 
 RELATED: Texas on list of states with highest rates of STDs 
 
 Crane is located in Texas Public Health Region 9, which had 3,269 cases of Chlamydia and a rate of 535.8 per 100,000 in 2013, according to the Texas Department of State Public Health Services STD Surveillance Report. 
 
 Crane County had 17 cases in 2013, with a rate of 256.2 cases per 100,000 people. 
 
 Bexar County had the eighth-highest rates of Chlamydia case rates per 100,000 people in 2013 with 636.7. 
 
 Click through the slideshow above to see the 25 states with the highest rates of STDs, with Texas making the list. 
 
 twhite@mysa.com 
 
 Twitter: @tylerlwhite 

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 A west Texas school district has confirmed nearly two dozen cases of chlamydia among high school students, at a small-town campus that -- surprise! -- endorses an abstinence-only sex education program, but does not officially offer sex ed. 
 
 At least 20 cases of chlamydia among students at Crane High School were reported to the Crane Independent School District last week, after the Texas Department of State Health Services alerted district officials to the high rate of cases reported in the surrounding counties. According to CBS affiliate KOSA, the district notified Crane High School parents on Monday of the "growing problem," which so far affects a significant percentage of the school's nearly 300 students. Crane ISD also informed parents of middle school students about the outbreak, although it is currently contained to high schoolers. 
 
 "Honestly I don't want my kid growing up in an area where nasty stuff like that happens," Crane resident Edward Martinez told KWES. 
 
 As Raw Story uncovered, Crane ISD's current student handbook states that the district "does not offer a curriculum in human sexuality," but allows for instructors to cover the topic in other classes. Parents, however, are free to remove their students from a school sex education course without penalty. 
 
 Should teachers provide sex ed at a Crane public school, it must be in accordance with Texas' statewide guidelines, which emphasize abstinence as "the preferred choice of behavior in relationship to all sexual activity for unmarried persons of school age." Specifically, instructors may use Scott & White's "Worth the Wait" Abstinence Plus curriculum, which the district's school health advisory committee officially recommended in 2012. The same advisory committee that recommended the optional abstinence-plus curriculum reportedly plans to meet on Monday to discuss how best to address the chlamydia outbreak. 
 
 Left untreated, chlamydia can pose serious threats to a patient's fertility and make it impossible for a woman to become pregnant. In 2012, Texas ranked 13th in infection rates for the STI nationally, according to CDC estimates. The state also ranked 13th and 6th in infection rates for gonorrhea and syphilis, respectively. 

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– School officials have declared an outbreak of chlamydia at a high school in Crane County, Texas, where the only sex-ed course is legally required to emphasize abstinence. School district officials sent out letters to parents last week warning that 20 of Crane High School's 300 students have come down with the disease, which afflicts males and females but can cause permanent reproductive damage in the latter if left untreated, the Express-News reports. The letter said parents should be aware of the "growing problem," CBS 7 reports. The district also planned to have a meeting with school officials, parents, and teachers to discuss a strategy and the school's sex-ed program. Currently the Crane Independent School District "does not offer a curriculum in human sexuality," according to its student handbook, but does offer a three-day course in sex-ed each fall semester. Texas law mandates that such courses emphasize abstinence, Salon reports, and indeed a district committee recommended Scott & White's "Worth the Wait" Abstinence Plus curriculum three years ago. "If kids are not having any sexual activity, they can’t get this disease … That’s not a bad program," says Jim Rumage, the district's superintendent. But residents say they're not too thrilled with the results: "I mean I have a kid, honestly I don't want my kid growing up in an area where nasty stuff like that happens," resident Edward Martinez tells News West 9. (A huge number of Americans have chlamydia and don't know it.)