Deciding when a child is too sick to go to school can be a difficult decision for parents to make.  When trying to decide, please use the guidelines below to help you.

Stay at Home:  If your child has any of the following symptoms, please keep your child at home or make appropriate child care arrangements:
       
    •    Appearance and Behavior - unusually tired, pale, lack of appetite, difficult to wake, confused or irritable.  This is sufficient reason to exclude a child.
    •    Eyes - thick mucous or pus draining from the eye or pink eye.  With pink eye (conjunctivitis) you may see a white or yellow discharge, matted eyelids after sleep, eye pain and/or redness.
    •    Fever - temperature 100 degrees Fahrenheit or higher.  Remember that a child must be fever free for 24 hours without medication before returning to school.
    •    Greenish nose discharge and/or chronic cough - should be seen by a health care provider.  These conditions may be contagious and require treatment.
    •    Sore throat - especially with fever or swollen glands in the neck.  (With strep throat, the child may return to school after 24 hours on antibiotics.)
    •    Diarrhea - three (3) or more watery stools in a 24-hour period, especially if the child acts or looks ill.
    •    Vomiting - two (2) or more times within the past 24 hours
    •    Rash - body rash, especially with fever or itching.  Heat rashes and allergic reactions are not contagious.
    •    Ear infections without fever - do not need to be excluded, but the child needs to get medical treatment and follow-up.  Untreated ear infections can cause permanent hearing loss.
    •    Lice - children may not return to school until they have been treated and are free of live lice.  Make a habit of checking your child’s hair for head lice once a week.
    •    Cough – your child may bring in non-medicated (non-mentholated) cough drops with a note from you giving permission for the cough drop. They will be stored in the Health Room.

If your child shows any of the above symptoms while at school, it will be necessary to pick him/her up from school.  Please make sure all emergency contacts are up to date and plan accordingly. Each student should have at least 3 emergency contacts listed. Students should be picked up within 30 minutes of receiving the phone call from the health room staff.