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Student Illness Procedures
Ill or Injured Students
Students exhibiting any signs of illness (fever, vomiting, fatigue, cough, etc.) must be cared for at home to enhance their own recovery and to prevent the spread of illness to other students. Students who become ill or injured at school will not be sent home without prior contact with a family member or authorized adult. While Health Services provides interim care, the responsibility for the treatment and care of the student rests with the family once notification has been provided. Please work with your family, employer, and close contacts to assure your student who is ill can be picked up within 30 minutes of Health Services notifying you.
Health Standards When Your Child Is Ill
We will continue to follow guidance from the Minnesota Department of Health in regards to Infectious Disease, whether COVID or some other disease. If advised by a Governor’s Executive Order or guidance from the Minnesota Department of Health or Minnesota Department of Education we adjust our illness protocols accordingly.
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We hope that your child never has to miss school because of illness or disease. The best protection from disease is prevention. You can help prevent many illnesses by making sure your child washes his or her hands often, receives immunizations, has a healthy diet and gets plenty of sleep.
Questions to Consider When Your Child is Ill:
- Does your child’s illness keep him/her from comfortably taking part in all activities, including
recess and PE? - Does your ill child need more care than the staff can give without affecting the health and safety of other children?
- Could other children get sick from being near your child?
- If the answer to any of these questions is “Yes,” please keep your child out of school.
What about minor illnesses?
Minor illnesses such as common colds, runny nose, “pink” eye without fever, and or ear infections (otitis) do not need to be excluded if they feel well enough to participate. If you have questions or concerns, please contact your doctor, clinic, or school health office.
Student Temperatures
A student with a temperature of 100.4 F or higher and no other illness symptoms must stay home until no fever without medication for a full 24 hours, unless a health care provider provides a written statement allowing the student to return to school earlier.
Student Symptoms
A student must stay at home and remain there until symptom free for 24-48 hours, without medication, if any of these symptoms are present:
- Has vomited or has diarrhea
- Has a rash that is unidentified (Please contact your family healthcare provider)
- Has an open or draining sore (Please contact your family healthcare provider)
When deemed necessary by school health staff, local paramedics will be called in case of a medical emergency.
Procedure for Ill Student Going Home
For the health and safety of all involved, students who feel ill must visit the health office. Health office staff will contact parents when appropriate, or if a child requests parent contact. If the parent decides, or the health office staff determines, that the student should go home the student will wait in the appropriate designated area based on their current symptoms, which may include a supervised isolation room. Students who contact their parents directly should be directed to come to the health office by their parent as the school does not want ill students remaining in undesignated areas for the health of all staff and students. Parents, or their designee, should make every effort to arrive within 30 minutes of being notified of an ill student. Parent/designee will need to come to the Main Office and sign the student out. Health office staff will escort the student to the Main Office upon parent/designee arrival. If this procedure is not followed (student leaves ill without going through the health office) the absence may be unexcused.
Parents are not allowed in the Health Office directly for confidentiality reasons, unless Health Office staff determine it is necessary and safe to do so.
