With a variety of illnesses going around, it’s essential that students and their families take a moment to review the WCS Illness Guidelines when deciding whether a student should go to school or stay home.
Here are some important considerations for families when making the decision to keep a student home from school:
- A student should be fever-free for 24 hours without fever-reducing medication before returning to school.
- When antibiotics are prescribed, students must wait 24 hours before returning to school, regardless or whether they have a doctor’s note.
- A student should not experience any signs of diarrhea/vomiting within 24 hours of school start time.
- If your child is coughing uncontrollably, they should stay home or seek advice from a health care provider. An uncontrollable cough is disruptive to the classroom, and it is difficult to manage the spread of germs.
It is also important to communicate with the school should a student need to be kept home. Families should continue to communicate during any illness to ensure absences are documented accurately. Student absences related to illness are excused with documentation from a parent for up to eight days. After eight days, parents need to provide a doctor’s note to the school attendance office.
If you have questions or concerns, please contact your school nurse.
