When to keep sick children home from school
Information compiled from CDC (Centers for Disease Control); IDPH (Illinois Dept. of Public Health)
Deciding when to keep a child home from school is not always easy, and the current pandemic has made this task even trickier. It’s important for children to attend school and we realize that for many parents staying home with a sick child means missing work, and after the recent shut down, that is a daunting thought. However, with the nature of COVID-19 and its effects, children should be kept home if they are experiencing ANY symptoms of COVID-19 and will be sent home if these symptoms appear at school.
Following CDC and IDPH Guidelines, your child should stay home from school if he/she has:
- Fever 100.4 or higher;
- Chills;
- Cough;
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing;
- Fatigue;
- Muscle or body aches;
- Headache;
- New loss of taste or smell;
- Sore throat;
- Congestion or runny nose;
- Nausea or vomiting; and/or
- Diarrhea
If your child is sent home from school or kept home from school with any of these symptoms they will need to be home 72 hours fever free without any fever reducing medicine (i.e. Tylenol or Advil) and home 10 days from when the first symptoms appeared. They will also need a doctor’s note to return to school.
Also, if your student has come in contact with someone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19, they will need to quarantine at home for 14 days and you should contact your doctor for recommendations on testing. Exposure to an individual who has tested positive for COVID-19, suspected COVID-19, and positive COVID-19 test results are all required to be reported to the school nurse.
If you are calling your child out of school, please call the school nurse, Tracy Mullen, at 847-294-1896.
Illness/injury at school
In the event your child becomes ill at school they should report to the Health Office. There they will be evaluated by the nurse. If it is determined that your child needs to go home the nurse will contact the parent/guardian.
In an acute emergency the nurse will be notified immediately and will perform necessary first aid/lifesaving techniques. If medically necessary, 911 will be called to transport your child to a hospital that is determined by the emergency professionals. The parent/guardian will be notified immediately of this transport, and a staff member of the school will accompany and remain with the student until a family member arrives.