Greetings Parents & Guardians!
With the fall weather, we also welcome cold and flu season. Please review the following guidelines provided by the Department of Student Support’s Social Emotional Wellness Team:
Sick Child Guidelines for Parents
If your child gets sick, it is often most appropriate to keep him/her home from school. A child who is sick will not be able to perform well in school and is likely to spread the illness to other children and staff. Please make arrangements for childcare ahead of time so you will not be caught without a place for your child to stay if he/she is ill.
SCHOOL POLICY
Our school policy states that you should not send your child to school if he/she has:
- Fever in the past 24 hours
- Vomiting in the past 24 hours
- Diarrhea in the past 24 hour
- Chills
- Sore throat
- Strep Throat (must have been taking an antibiotic for at least 24 hours before returning to school).
- Bad cold, with a very runny nose or bad cough, especially if it has kept the child awake at night.
IF YOUR CHILD BECOMES SICK AT SCHOOL
If your child becomes ill at school and the school nurse feels the child is too sick to benefit from school or is contagious to other children, you will be called to come and take him/her home from school. It is essential that your child’s teacher have a phone number where you can be contacted during the day and an emergency number in the event you cannot be reached.
Please be sure that arrangements can be made to transport your child home from school and that childcare is available in case of illness. If your daytime or emergency phone number changes during the year, please notify your child’s teacher immediately.
WITH ILLNESS DURING COLD AND FLU SEASON
Sometimes it can be difficult for a parent to decide whether to send children to school when they wake up with early symptoms of an illness or complaints that they do not feel well. In general, during cold and flu season, unless your child is significantly ill, the best place for them is in school where they have all already been exposed to the same germs and where they are less likely to expose other more vulnerable people, like the very young or very old, to their routine bouts of cold and flu. Remind and show your children to discard used tissues promptly, not to share personal items, to cover their mouths when they cough or sneeze, to keep their hands away from their face, and to wash hands thoroughly and often with soap and warm water. Suggest that they silently sing the Happy Birthday song twice while washing their hands. However, there are some situations in which it is best to plan on keeping your child home for a day to rest or to arrange for an appointment with your health care provider. The following are a few such situations that warrant watching and possibly conferring with your health care provider:
- Persistent fever greater than 100.4° orally, including a fever that requires control with medication, like Tylenol
- Child is too sleepy or ill from an illness, like vomiting and/or diarrhea, to profit from sitting in class all day
- Significant cough that makes a child feel uncomfortable or disrupts the class
- Sore throat that is severe, accompanied by fever and/or feeling ill, that persists longer than 48 hours, OR after known exposure to a confirmed case of Streptococcal throat infection
- Honey-crusted sores around the nose or mouth or rash on other body parts that might be impetigo; OR a rash in various stages including boils, sores and bumps that may be chicken pox; OR a significant rash accompanied by other symptoms of illness such as fever
- Red, runny eyes that distract the child from learning
- Large amount of discolored nasal discharge, especially if accompanied by facial pain or headache
- Severe ear pain or drainage from the ear
- Severe headache, especially if accompanied by fever
- Any condition that you think may be serious or contagious to others.
Whenever there is an outbreak of a specific contagious infection, the school sends out a notice to alert you to watch out for any symptoms. If your child starts to develop symptoms, it is important that you alert your own health care provider that your child had possible exposure. Be sure to ask your provider when it is safe for your child to return to school, both for your child’s health and for the health of the rest of the school. If you send your child to school even though you suspect there is significant illness as described above, please call the school nurse to provide her/him with phone numbers where you can be reached that day should your child become more ill and require early dismissal.
Finally, if you know your child is still running a fever, it is not a good idea simply to give them Tylenol and send them onto school because as soon as the medicine wears off, you are apt to get the dreaded call from the school nurse to leave work and come to pick up your feverish child. It is better to let them stay home in bed with a fever and take their medications at home until they are off all medicines and ready to learn for a full day in a classroom. If you find a pattern of your child’s asking to stay home from school, especially if they are falling behind or appear anxious by the thought of attending school, or if there does not appear to be any obvious physical symptoms, it may be a good idea to contact your school nurse and your health care provider to discuss your concerns. Remember, whenever you keep your child home from school, please call the school nurse or attendance office in advance of the start of the school day and leave a message that your child will be absent.
These guidelines are meant to serve the best interests of all the children in our school. It is our hope that all parents/guardians adhere to the guidelines to ensure a safe environment for all. When in doubt, please seek medical advice from a professional before sending your child to school.
For more information on social wellness supports, please visit the BPS website: https://www.buffaloschools.org/o/bps/page/social-emotional-and-wellness-supports
If you need to contact the school nurse, Mrs. Carter, please call the school at (716) 816-4330.
Please stay safe!
