USD 247 Illness Guidelines
When to keep your child home from school
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When a child is sick, it is sometimes difficult to know when to send them to school and when to keep them home. Below are a few guidelines of when your child should be kept home:
FEVER: A child should be kept home with a temperature of 99.6 degrees or above and has a headache, sore throat, nausea, coughing, sneezing, or other symptoms.
A child with a temperature of 100 degrees or above should be kept home even if there are no other symptoms. Any student with a temperature of 100 degrees or above will be sent home from school even if there are no other symptoms.
A child should remain home until his/her temperature has been normal for 24 hours without having to use tylenol or other medication to keep it normal.
VOMITING: A child should not be sent to school until the vomiting has been absent for at least 24 hours.
DIARRHEA: A child should not be sent to school until the diarrhea has been absent for at least 24 hours.
COUGHING/SNEEZING: If your child has been coughing or sneezing excessively. Usually if these conditions disturb the previous night's sleep, the child should stay home until these conditions are no longer disturbing.
RUNNY NOSE: Green or yellowish discharge from the nose. This is a sign of infection, and should be seen by a physician.
CHICKENPOX: Should be kept home for at least 6 days after the first onset of vesicles (blister-like sores). May return to school when all vesicles have scabbed over and no new vesicles have appeared for 24 hours. May return to school before all scabs are gone.
PINK EYE: Should be kept home if child has red, itchy, watery or puffy eyes with discolored drainage. If your child awakens with crusty, sticky drainage on their eyelashes (which sometimes seals the eye closed); this is a very good sign of pink eye. Pink eye is also called bacterial conjunctivitis, and is very contagious. It is spread by contact with the discharge from the infected eye, by the respiratory tract of infected persons, and/or by contaminated fingers, clothing or other articles the infected person may have touched.
This infection requires medical treatment from doctor. Antibiotic eye drops are the usual treatment prescribed. A child must stay home until the antibiotic eye drops have been given for at least 24 hours, and the eyes are no longer draining. A physician's note to return to school is required.
OTHER: If your child has had strep throat or other bacterial infection, the child should be kept home until the antibiotic has been given for at least 24 hours at home.
TIPS FOR KEEPING OUR CHILDREN HEALTY
- Children should be taught proper hand washing techniques, with emphasis on hand washing after toileting and before eating.
- Children should be taught not to share their food, drink, eating utensils, lip balm, or other personal items with other children or adults.
- Children should be taught to cover their mouths when coughing, and to wash hands well after coughing or sneezing.
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT WE HAVE AN ALTERNATE PERSON ON YOUR CHILD'S HEALTH CARD IF YOUR CHILD BECOMES SICK OR IS INJURED AT SCHOOL
If a student becomes ill after arriving at school, school staff will notify the parent or parent-designee, and place the ill child in the office or designated area until the child is picked up. The child MUST be picked up in a reasonable amount of time (within 30 minutes).
Should a student develop a condition at school that requires immediate medical attention, he/she will be taken to the hospital by ambulance. The EMS staff who transports your child will decide which hospital your child will be transported to. School personnel will make every effort to contact the parents. This is another reason we must have accurate phone numbers on the health cards for home and work. Parents must meet the child at the hospital.
Again, I cannot stress enough the importance of having accurate, operable phone numbers for emergency purposes. Please contact your child's school secretary if you need to add or change any numbers on your child's health card.
MEDICATIONS AT SCHOOL
No medication, including over the counter medication, will be given to any student unless a completed and signed Request to Administer Medication form is received. This form must always be signed by the parent, and if the medication is prescription, must be signed by the physician as well. All medication must be brought to school in the original container it was purchased in, with the student's name on it. Please refer to the Student Handbook for further information about medication administration at school.
Your cooperation in adhering to the above guidelines and policies is appreciated and assists in making our schools a safe and healthy environment for all our students.
Sincerely,
Susan Bole
USD 247 District Nurse
