Is Your Child Well Enough To Go To School?

WHEN YOUR STUDENT IS ILL . . .

If your child becomes ill at school and needs to go home, Student Health Services Staff will contact a parent/guardian. 

Children must call from the health office and not from their cell phones.  If staff are unable to reach parents and determine that the student must go home, the emergency contacts will then be called. 

It is important for parents to have the emergency contact list updated and that person is available during the day.   Your child will not be allowed to leave school without contacting an adult.

When a student is sick, parents often wonder whether or not to keep a child at home from school. If a child stays home and has the care he/she needs when first sick,he/she will often get better faster.

Staying home and resting will help the body fight the sickness.
     
Staying at home is also one of the best ways to keep others from becoming ill.

Reasons why children should stay at home:
1. Severe colds, coughs, or sore throat
2. New skin rashes, especially if draining—unless medical opinion states rash is not contagious
3. Temperature of 100º or more with or without symptoms of an illness
4. Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or abdominal pain
5. Any other sign of acute illness
6. Until results of laboratory tests (i.e., throat culture, nasal swab) are known.

Children may return to school when:
1. Well enough to participate in normal school activities
2. Free of all symptoms for 24 hours (i.e. has not vomited, had diarrhea, abdominal pain in 24 hours)
3. Temperature remains normal for a 24-hour period without the use of fever reducing medications.
4. On an antibiotic for at least 24 hours or your health care provider states your child can return to school.

It is often very difficult to decide whether it is really necessary to keep your child home. There are no sure rules to follow as we are dealing with variables.  Hopefully, the above guidelines will be helpful to you in making this decision.

Absences: It is important to report your child's absence each day your child is absent from school. 
Please add comments in Skyward and report your child's:         
*  Nature of why they are absent (ill, appointment, etc)     
*  If your child has symptoms of, or has been diagnosed with, any communicable diseases (Influenza, Chicken Pox, Strep Throat, fever, cough, diarrhea, abdominal pain, vomiting.)