Helping to Prevent Illness in our Schools
We appreciate the concern of parents and school staff regarding the coronavirus and keeping our students healthy and safe. The two most important things we can do to prevent children from getting ANY virus or infection are to:
1. Teach and encourage children to wash their hands frequently and thoroughly. Remind them to avoid touching their eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) encourages us to follow these five steps every time we wash our hands:
- Wet your hands with clean, running water (warm or cold), turn off the tap, and apply soap.
- Lather your hands by rubbing them together with the soap. Lather the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails.
- Scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds. Need a timer? Hum the “Happy Birthday” song from beginning to end twice.
- Rinse your hands well under clean, running water.
- Dry your hands using a clean towel or air dry them.
If soap and water aren’t available, you can use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.
2. Keep children home when they are ill.
If during the previous 24 hours, your child has exhibited one or more of the following, please keep them home from school:
• Diarrhea; defined as an increased number of stools compared to the child’s normal pattern and the inability to control or contain fecal matter.
• Nausea or vomiting.
• Severe abdominal pain.
• Fever in the last 24 hours. Must be fever-free without the aid of a fever-reducing medication. Defined as; oral temperature equal to or greater than 100 degrees F.
• A severe or croupy cough related to illness that has not been treated.
• Untreated consistent green discharge from nose or throat. Unless documentation has been provided to the school from a health care provider that student has allergies.
• Contagious diseases; such as, but not limited to flu, strep, pneumonia, etc., for which the contagion period has not passed or for which medical treatment has been in effect for less than 24 hours.
• Infected eyes; defined as the white part of the eye (sclera) is red with/without discharge until 24 hours after treatment has been started.
• Untreated earache with/without discharge from the ear.
• Rash with fever, discharge, behavioral changes or accompanied by other symptoms.
• Chickenpox, until all lesions have dried or crusted.
• Other untreated communicable diseases, such as lice, ringworm, impetigo, scabies, weeping skin lesions or open sores.
• Any student due to illness that is unable to participate in educational learning. Treatment refers to being evaluated and treated by a health care professional.
The above list is not all-inclusive. There may be other signs, symptoms or health conditions that may require your student to be excluded from school. Please DO NOT send your student to school when ill. When a child is sick their ability to learn is negatively impacted. It may also have a negative effect on other student’s abilities to learn in the classroom.