When your child seems ill, it can be tough deciding when to keep the child home. It is important to balance your child’s school attendance with good decisions about their health.
Many students suffer mild cold symptoms and are able to successfully attend class. However, if your child is truly ill, it is important that he remain home.
Some guidelines for keeping your child home include:
Fever over 100.4 in the last 24 hours
A temperature of 100.4 or higher is an indication that your child could be contagious. Children should be fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medications, like Motrin and Tylenol, for a period of 24 hours before returning to school.
Vomiting
Children should be free of vomiting for a period of 24 hours before returning to school. An exception may be when vomiting is caused by a cough.
Diarrhea
If your child has had three or more watery stools in a 24-hour period, especially if your child acts or looks ill, it is recommended they do not come to school.
Communicable Disease (per the guidelines in the student/parent handbook)
Red eyes with drainage
Eyes are sometimes swollen and irritated by allergens or virus. However, bacterial Pink Eye is very contagious, so it is best to check with your doctor before sending your child to school with the following symptoms:
Thick mucus or pus draining from the eye
Eye is red, puffy, or itchy
Eye is painful
Your child can attend school 24 hours after starting medical treatment for bacterial Pink Eye.
Severe Sore Throat/Cough
A student should stay home if they have a sore throat or cough and a fever or swollen neck glands. A frequent cough can also be a distraction to the class.
If you have questions, contact your school nurse or your child’s doctor.