Illness Guidelines
Deciding to Stay Home or Go to School
Illness – Keeping a Child Home from School
It is not always easy to decide if your child is sick enough to stay home or well enough to be in school. Children who come to school are expected, with few exceptions, to participate fully in school activities. When a child’s illness prevents them from participating in school activities or when their illness poses a risk of spread of harmful disease to others, they should stay home. For specific guidance about your child, contact your school nurse.
If your child will not be attending school for any reason, it is very important for you to call and notify the school office of the reason for the absence. In addition, please notify the school nurse if you have been advised to stay home by the medical provider or public health. The school nurse will be notified of the absence and may call you for further information. This helps us to keep track of illnesses among our students. It also helps us be assured that your child is safe at home.
If a student has an injury that interferes with participation in physical education class for more than three days, an excuse or recommendation for activity from a health care provider is needed.
Here are some recommendations of when to keep your child home.
- Fever: A fever of 100.4 degrees or more signals an illness that is probably going to make a student uncomfortable and unable to function well in class.
- Vomiting (2 or more times in the previous 24 hours), Diarrhea or Severe Nausea that makes the student uncomfortable and unable to function well in class.
- Rashes with fever or with behavioral changes such as being unusually tired or irritable.
- Bad or persistent cough or difficulty breathing.
- When advised by Public Health and/or CDC to stay home or your medical provider
We encourage you to seek medical attention when your child is sick and to follow your health care provider’s recommendations about returning to school and other social activities. The following guidelines indicate when students can return to school. Please contact your school nurse to discuss when your child may return to school.
- Strep throat: 24 hours after starting antibiotics & after two doses of an antibiotic
- Chicken Pox: after all lesions have dried
- Pertussis: after 5 days of antibiotic treatment
- Other bacterial infections: usually 24 hours after starting antibiotics
- Fever free without the use of fever reducing medication for 24 hours