Is Your Child Too Sick Today?
Should I Send My Child to School Today?
To help you decide if your child is healthy enough to come to school, consider the following:
- APPEARANCE/BEHAVIOR: unusually tired, pale, lack of appetite, difficult to wake, confused or irritable.
- Symptoms of COVID-19- fever or chills, new cold symptoms, new cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, nausea or vomiting.
- EYES: thick mucus or pus draining from the eye or the eye is red, water profusely and feels irritated-please contact health care provider or clinic
- FEVER: temperature of 100 degrees F or higher in the past 24 hours
- GREENISH NOSE DISCHARGE AND/OR COUGH: contact your health care provider for appropriate treatment
- SORE THROAT: especially with fever or swollen glands in the neck, please contact your health care provider or clinic. If strep throat, the student may return to school after being on antibiotics for 24 hours and feeling better.
- DIARRHEA: especially if the child acts or looks ill.
- VOMITING: within the past 24 hours
- RASH: body rash, especially with fever, blistering or itching – students can return when the rash has cleared or has physician diagnosis and treatment.
- EAR INFECTIONS WITHOUT FEVER: do not need to be kept home unless experiencing other symptoms as noted above. Contact health care provider as untreated ear infections can cause permanent hearing loss.
- LICE & SCABIES: children should be treated for lice and nits (eggs). Children with scabies can be admitted to school after treatment has been initiated by health care practitioner or clinic.
Bringing a child to school with any of the above symptoms places other children and staff at risk. Keeping sick children home will result in faster recovery and, in the long run, result in having stronger, healthier, and happier children.
Please note that there are no options for students to stay indoors for recess if they have been ill. Getting fresh air is helpful for children, but please do send your child to school with appropriate outdoor clothing-coat, hats, and gloves.