Guidelines for when to keep a sick child home

Now that the cold and flu season is upon us, it is important that parents keep students home when they are ill to prevent passing the illness on to other students as well as faculty and staff. Click here for a guide from the National Institutes of Health for distinguishing between a cold and the flu.

Per the Student/Parent Handbook, parents should keep a child home from school following these health guidelines:

• If a child has a runny or stuffy nose with flu-like symptoms.
• Twenty-four (24) hours after a fever breaks.
• If a child is sick during the night or before school.
• If strep throat is suspected, the child must have a strep test taken to be sure that strep is not present. The child may come to school when the strep test reads negative.
• Children having diarrhea.

Also, if a child becomes ill while in school, the parents will be notified. A child who exhibits the following signs of illness will be isolated from the other children (in the clinic or the office) and must be picked up by the parents:

• a temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit (taken by auxiliary methods)
• skin rash
• diarrhea and/or vomiting two or more times in the same day
• evidence of lice infection