Nurse's Corner: When To Keep Your Child Home From School

There are times when you are not sure whether you should keep your child out of school. Below are the criteria required before your child will be able to return to school after an illness. Students that return to school and have any of the listed symptoms will be dismissed AND MUST HAVE A DOCTOR’S NOTE TO RETURN:

Fever of 100.4 or higher. A student must be fever free for 24 hours WITHOUT fever reducing medications such as Tylenol or Motrin before returning to school.
Diarrhea – more than 1 time in a 24-hour period.
Vomiting – more than 1 time in a 24-hour period.
A blistery sore or rash, especially if accompanied by a fever. Students will need to be cleared of any contagious illness by their physician before returning to school
Keep your child at home if he or she has HEAVY nasal congestion or has a persistent cough. If your child has a fever with a persistent cough, they will need to be fever free for 24 hours WITHOUT medication and overall symptoms must improve before they will be allowed to return to school
If your child has been diagnosed with strep throat, pink eye, ringworm, impetigo, etc. he or she must be on antibiotics 24 hours before returning to school and be fever free.

During the months of September through April it is very important to keep your student at home if they have any of the following symptoms:

Fever of 100.4 or above
Body aches
Chills and sweats
Dry cough
Fatigue/weakness
Nasal congestion