Illness

Common FAQs

Have a different question you'd like answered? Please contact your designated school nurse.

When should I keep my child home?

When would my child be dismissed from school?

In order to provide the healthiest school environment possible, please do not send your child to school when symptoms of illness are present.

Children must be fever free without the use of antipyretics (such as motrin, ibuprofen, tylenol, acetaminophen) for 24 hours before returning to school. If a child is being treated for a contagious illness or condition such as strep throat or impetigo, they must complete a full 24 hours of antibiotics before returning to school. Please contact your designated school nurse with any questions prior to your child returning to school.

Reasons for Dismissal

Covid symptoms (see MDPH COVID-19 School Health & Safety Protocols)
Temperature over 100° F (oral temperature)
Cough with fever
Suspected infection of eye, ears, nose, throat, skin, scalp (unless under physician’s care for 24 hours)
Severe headache or abdominal pain
Suspected communicable disease and/or rash of unknown origin
Suspected fracture or any severe or disabling injury
Questionable need for sutures
Vomiting or diarrhea
Head injury requiring a physician evaluation
Mental health crisis
Immunization delinquencies without exemption documentation

Please notify the school nurse if your child contracts any communicable diseases, including but not limited to:

chicken pox,
conjunctivitis,
COVID-19,
Fifth's disease,
gastroenteritis,
influenza,
impetigo,
measles,
mononucleosis,
mumps,
scabies,
scarlet fever,
strep throat and
whooping cough.

When can my child return to school?

Fever-free without the use of fever reducing medication for 24 hours
Completed 24 hours of antibiotics and medical clearance note obtained (if prescribed, consult with your school nurse prior to returning)
Vomiting/diarrhea has stopped for 24 hours and child is able to tolerate a normal diet and severe symptoms have resolved
Persistent cough/runny nose/rash has been evaluated by a clinician and student is able to return to school without being disruptive in class and able to wear a mask if necessary to refrain from spreading any illness
If you are awaiting strep throat results, please keep your child home until those results have returned. Positive results must be treated with antibiotics for a full 12 hours prior to returning and the student must also be fever and vomiting-free for 24 hours before returning to school.

APS Attendance Policy

Click the button below to view the APS Policy in reference to student attendance.

APS Attendance Policy

Illness Prevention

Encourage your child to cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue then wash hands
Steer from people who are sick, if possible
Wash hands frequently with soap and water especially before and after meals, when using the bathroom, when hands are visibily soiled, etc.
Use an alcohol-based hand rub if soap and water are not available.
Contact your healthcare provider if your child gets sick, especially if the child is under 5 years of age or has long-term health conditions.
Seek emergency care if your child has
- trouble breathing or fast breathing,
- turns bluish or gray,
- severe or persistent vomiting,
- trouble waking up, or
- doesn't interact normally.

COVID-19; Flu; Other Respiratory Viruses

These guidelines taken from DPH from their most recent update...

Preventing the spread

Staying home to prevent the spread of respiratory viruses

Recommendations for the general public

Home icon

Stay home when you have symptoms of any respiratory illness, like flu COVID-19, and RSV. Staying home when sick helps prevent the spread of germs.

Overview of things you can do to help prevent the spread of respiratory viruses:

Get vaccinated for flu and COVID-19
Stay home when you are sick (follow the recommendations below)
Use hand and respiratory hygiene
Wear a mask around others
Get tested for flu and COVID-19 so you can get treated
Avoid crowded areas and maintain physical distance
Increase fresh air

Exhibiting symptoms of a respiratory virus

If you have symptoms of a respiratory virus (isolation)

If you have new symptoms of a respiratory virus, such as a fever, sore throat, cough or a runny or stuffy nose, you should stay home and stay away from others in your household.

While you are staying at home:

Get tested for COVID-19 and flu. Talk to your healthcare provider about getting treatment if you test positive.
Stay away from others in your household. Wear a mask when you have to be around them.
Wash your hands often with soap and warm water. If soap and water are not available, use hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol.
Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze. Use a tissue or your inner elbow, not your hands.
Clean high-touch surfaces (such as countertops, handrails, and doorknobs) often.

You should stay home even if you don’t know what virus is making you sick.

When you start to feel better:

You may begin to resume normal activities with precautions if:

You have not had a fever for at least 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medicines; AND
Your other symptoms are improving

You may still be able to spread the virus that made you sick, even if you are feeling better.

For at least the first 5 days after you resume normal activities, take these extra precautions:

Avoid crowded indoor spaces. Wear a mask anytime you are indoors around other people
Wash your hands often with soap and warm water. If soap and water are not available, use hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol.
Avoid spending time with people who are at increased risk for severe disease

If your symptoms get worse again:

If your fever comes back or any other symptoms start to get worse, you should go back home until you are better again. Wait to resume normal activities until you have not had a fever for at least 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medicines AND your symptoms are improving again. When you resume normal activities, take the recommended additional precautions during the next 5 days:

Avoid crowded indoor spaces
Wear a mask indoors around other people
Wash your hands often
Cover your coughs and sneezes

Testing positive for a respiratory virus

If you have tested positive for a respiratory virus but do not have any symptoms

You can still spread the virus. Take additional precautions to protect others from getting sick.

For at least the first 5 days, take these extra precautions:

Avoid crowded indoor spaces. Wear a mask anytime you are indoors around other people.
Wash your hands often with soap and warm water. If soap and water are not available, use hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol.
Avoid spending time with people who are at increased risk for severe disease.
Although not required, choosing to stay home for about 72 hours may help reduce the chances that you spread the virus to others. While you stay home you should:
- Stay away from others in your household. Wear a mask when you have to be around them.
- Wash your hands often with soap and warm water. If soap and water are not available, use hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol.
- Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze. Use a tissue or your inner elbow, not your hands.
- Clean high-touch surfaces (such as countertops, handrails, and doorknobs) often.

If you develop any respiratory symptoms:

If you get a fever, or any other symptoms of respiratory illness, you should go home. You may begin to resume normal activities with some precautions when:

You have not had a fever for at least 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medicines; AND
Your symptoms are improving again

Then, take the recommended extra precautions during the next 5 days:

Avoid crowded indoor spaces
Wear a mask indoors around other people
Wash your hands often
Cover your coughs and sneezes

Exposure precautions

If you were exposed to someone with a respiratory virus illness (exposure precautions)

If you have been exposed to someone with a respiratory virus, you do not need to stay home as long as you remain asymptomatic. You may be able to spread a respiratory virus before developing symptoms.

To protect others, especially those with risk factors for severe illness, take precautions:

Wash your hands often
Consider wearing a mask and avoiding crowded places
Monitor yourself for symptoms carefully

Stay home if you start to develop any signs of illness.

Protecting people with risk factors for severe illness from respiratory viruses

When you are sick from a respiratory virus, you may spread germs for about 10 days after your symptoms start or after a positive test, even if you don’t have symptoms.

Be aware that some people around you may have risk factors for more severe disease. Masking, physical distancing, hand hygiene, and covering your coughs and sneezes helps protect them.

People at increased risk can include:

Older adults
Individuals with chronic underlying medical conditions, for example heart, lung, liver or kidney disease
Young children, especially those under 2 years old
People with weakened immune systems
People with disabilities
Pregnant people

Schools and childcare settings

Schools and childcare settings should follow the recommendations for the general population. Recognize that young children may not always be able to wear a mask effectively. Children under 2 years are not asked to mask when they return to normal activities.

School health offices are health care settings. School nurses and other health office staff should follow the guidance for health care settings.

Health care settings

View specific guidance and protocols for health care settings: Guidance for Health Care Personnel with SARS-CoV2 Infection or Exposure.

Health care guidance is intended for:

Inpatient settings (e.g., hospitals, long-term care facilities)
Outpatient settings (e.g., clinics, urgent care, ambulatory surgical centers, imaging centers, dialysis centers, physical therapy and rehabilitation centers, alternative medicine clinics)
Community settings where health care is being delivered (e.g., emergency medical services, home health agencies)

Tips to protect yourself and others

Exposure for health care personnel

Information on Illnesses and More...

School nurses follow our school physician protocols as well as the guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). For the most current information, please contact your designated school nurse.

Chicken Pox

Common Cold

Communicable Diseases

If a student is diagnosed with a communicable disease such as mono, strep throat, chicken pox or conjunctivitis, contact the school nurse. This information is vital to help protect the students and staff who may be medically at risk from exposure to these diseases. Students need to stay home until they are no longer contagious. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact your designated school nurse and notify the nurse as soon as possible if your has been diagnosed with any of the following:

chicken pox,
conjunctivitis,
COVID-19,
Fifth's disease,
gastroenteritis,
influenza,
impetigo,
measles,
mononucleosis,
mumps,
scabies,
scarlet fever,
strep throat and
whooping cough

Diarrhea

Fever

Flu (Influenza)

Hand, Foot and Mouth

Children may not attend school after hand, foot and mouth until:

They have not had a fever for 24 hours (without use of fever reducing medications) and
Do not have excessive drooling due to open mouth sores and skin is intact (no open blisters)
The child is well enough to participate in routine activities (sores or rash may still be present).

For any further questions, please contact your designated school nurse.

Lice

(Our current protocol is evidence based and not exclusive.)

Students diagnosed with live head lice do not need to be sent home early from school. This is a determination that can be made between the school nurse and the parent/guardian. Nits may persist after treatment, but successful treatment should kill crawling lice.

Head lice can be a nuisance but they have not been shown to spread disease. Personal hygiene or cleanliness in the home or school has nothing to do with getting head lice. It is probably impossible to totally prevent head lice infestations. Young children come into close head-to-head contact with each other frequently. It is prudent for children to be taught not to share personal items such as combs, brushes, and hats.

Both the American Association of Pediatrics and the National Association of School Nurses advocate that "no-nit" policies should be discontinued. "No-nit" policies that require a child to be free of nits before they can return to schools should be discontinued for the following reasons:

Many nits are more than ¼ inch from the scalp. Such nits are usually not viable and very unlikely to hatch to become crawling lice, or may in fact be empty shells, also known as casings.
Nits are cemented to hair shafts and are very unlikely to be transferred successfully to other people.
The burden of unnecessary absenteeism to the students, families and communities far outweighs the risks associated with head lice.
Misdiagnosis of nits is very common during nit checks conducted by nonmedical personnel.

Check out CDC's Head Lice Treatment for more helpful information.