Parents should be reminded that Mars Area School District follows the National Association of School Nurse (NASN) Guidelines when determining whether a sick student should be sent home.
Parents are encouraged to consider these same NASN guidelines when deciding whether or not to send a sick student to school. A student should be kept at home if he/she has
- a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher;
- has been vomiting; or
- exhibits symptoms that may prevent him/her from participating in school, such as excessive tiredness or lack of appetite, productive coughing or sneezing, headache, body aches, ear ache, or sore throat.
While a minor sore throat is usually not a problem, a severe sore throat could be strep throat, even if there is no fever. Other symptoms of strep throat in children are a headache and stomach upset. If a student exhibits any of these symptoms, parents should contact his/her pediatrician as a special test will be needed to determine if it is strep throat.
A student should be kept at home until his/her fever has been gone for 24 hours without medication. Colds can be contagious for at least 48 hours. Returning to school too soon may slow the recovery process and unnecessarily expose others to illness. Specific questions may be directed to the School Nurse.
For more information, visit www.nasn.org.