Regular attendance at school is extremely important, but a student with a significant illness should not be in school. Sending a child to school with a significant illness may result in a delay in his/her recovery. Keeping ill children at home is also necessary to control the spread of the illness to other students.
An illness is considered significant if:
- A rash is present that has not been evaluated by a physician.
- Your child’s temperature is 100.0 degrees or higher, or 1 to 2 degrees above the child’s normal temperature. A child with such a fever should remain home for 24 hours after the temperature returns to normal (without the use of fever-reducing medicine).
- Your child vomits and continues to experience nausea and/or vomiting. A child with persistent vomiting should remain home for 24 hours after the symptoms stop.
- Your child complains of severe, persistent pain. The symptom should be referred to a physician for evaluation.
- Your child shows signs of upper respiratory infection (coughing, wheezing or other) serious enough to interfere with the child’s ability to learn.
- There are signs of conjunctivitis (“pinkeye”) with drainage/matter coming from one or both eyes, itching, and/or crusts on eyelids. The child should be evaluated by a physician.
- There are open sores that have not been evaluated by a physician.
- There are signs of infestation with lice (nits in the hair, itchy scalp) the child should be evaluated for treatment with a pediculide. Refer to head lice section for more information.
If you are not sure about whether to send your child to school, call the school nurse for consultation. Do not send the child to school for the nurse to make the decision without speaking to her first. If you are still in doubt, call or visit your child’s physician.
The above guidelines will be used by the school officials in determining if an ill child should remain in school or be asked to be picked up by a parent. Students that return to school within 24 hours of a known fever or persistent vomiting will be monitored by school officials for returning symptoms.