Sending Sick Children to School

Community Day School has been kind enough to provide everyone with guidelines about how to send children to school when they’re sick. 

As cold and flu season is in full swing and the weather changes drastically from day to day, we wanted to send a quick reminder of the guidelines to use for deciding whether to send your child to school or not. 

Deciding when a child is possibly contagious and too sick to go to school can be a difficult decision for parents to make. When trying to decide, please use the guidelines below to help you. 

GO to SchoolIf your child has any of the following symptoms, they should probably go to school:

• Sniffles, a runny nose and a mild cough without a fever (this could be an allergic response to dust, pollen or seasonal changes).

• Vague complaints of aches, pains or fatigue.

• Single episode of diarrhea or vomiting without any other symptoms.

STAY at HomeIf your child has any of the following symptoms, please keep your child at home or make appropriate child care arrangements:

• EYES – thick mucus or pus draining from the eye or pink eye. (With pink eye (conjunctivitis) you may see a white or yellow discharge, matted eyelids after sleep, eye pain and/or redness.)

• FEVER – temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. Remember that a child must be fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medicine such as Tylenol or ibuprofen before returning to school.

• STREP THROAT – the child may return to school after 24 hours of antibiotics.

• VOMITING OR DIARRHEA – vomiting or diarrhea two (2) or more times within the past 24 Hours.

• If you are unsure of the need to keep your child home, please feel free to contact the school nurse.

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