A sick child cannot learn effectively or participate fully in their education in a meaningful way. Keeping a sick child home from school allows your child to rest and recover and prevents the spread of illness to others. To help maintain a safe and healthy learning environment, please see below for examples of common illnesses and guidelines on when to keep your child home from school.
Colds
If your child has a moist, productive cough, chest congestion, or thick nasal discharge they should stay home from school. Continuous greenish discharge may be a sign of infection and you should consider consulting your healthcare provider.
COVID-19
Individuals who test positive for COVID should stay home until they are fever and symptom free for 24 hrs.
Fever
The American Academy of Pediatrics' definition of fever is 100.4 degrees or greater. Your child can return to school after being fever-free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication.
Lice (Scabies)
If your child has been diagnosed with a parasitic infection, please keep them home until after treatment has been initiated. For lice, they can return to school once there are no live lice noted on the head. The school nurse can help identify this, as needed. Click the link for more information on head lice.
Pink Eye (Conjunctivitis)
If your child's eyes are swollen, red or are draining, your child should stay home. If your child is diagnosed with Conjunctivitis, your child may return to school 24 hours after the first dose of the prescribed medication.
Rashes
If your child has a rash you cannot identify, they should not return to school until a health care provider has made a diagnosis and determined that the rash is not contagious.
Strep Throat
Children who have been diagnosed with strep throat should remain at home until they have been on antibiotics for a full 24 hours and fever-free for 24-hours without fever-reducing medication.
Vomiting/Diarrhea
If your child has vomited more than once in 24 hours or has had persistent diarrhea, they should stay home from school and remain home until symptom-free for 24 hours.
