It is sometimes difficult to know when to send your child to school. The main reasons for keeping your child at home are if they are too sick to be comfortable in school and/or to prevent the spread of illness to others. If a child is not running a fever, but is obviously not feeling well enough to participate in classroom activities (for example, is very tired, has continual coughing, excessive runny nose, etc.), it is a good idea to keep him/her at home.

Fever (Temperature over 100.4 degrees): Temperature at or above 100.4°F. Excluded until fever free for 24 hours without taking Tylenol, Ibuprofen or other fever-reducing medication.

Vomiting:  It is recommended that your child stay home for 24 hours after his / her last episode of vomiting.  If vomiting is due to a recurring problem such as milk intolerance or strong gag reflex, please let the nurse know so we may better assess your child.

Rashes:  Unexplained rashes need to be evaluated by a doctor to determine whether the rash is contagious.  If treatment is started, please refer to the guidelines for the specific rash for returning to school.

Pink Eye:  No exclusion, unless the child has a fever or is not healthy enough to participate in routine activities. Antibiotics or a note from a health care provider are not required.

Diarrhea:  Please keep your child home for 24 hours after his / her last occurrence of diarrhea.

Head Lice:  Students who have lice are strongly recommended to be treated before returning to school or daycare. It is recommended you remove nits for two weeks after initial treatment as traditional lice shampoos only kill live lice and not their eggs.  Eggs left on hair may hatch into live lice.

Strep Throat:  Children may return to school 12 hours after beginning treatment with antibiotics and the child is fever free (without fever reducing medication). 

Ringworm:  May not return to school until treatment has been started. Any child with ringworm should not participate in gym, swimming, and other close contact activities that are likely to expose others if the lesions cannot be fully covered or until 72 hours after treatment has begun. 

Cold Sores (Herpes):
  If it is the first infection, your child must stay home until the sore is healed.  If it is a recurring infection, he / she may attend school with active sores.

Fifths Disease (Parvovirus):
  None, if other rash-causing illnesses are ruled out by a healthcare provider. Persons with Fifths Disease are no longer infectious once the rash begins. 

Noncommunicable Rashes (Contact dermatitis, allergy, eczema, psoriasis):  Please provide documentation by a physician of these skin conditions.  This will help us better assess your child and prevent unnecessary phone calls if rash appears during the school day.

Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease:  Your child may return to school as long as he / she does not have a fever.  Sores or rash may still be present.

Influenza:  Your child may return to school when the fever is gone (without fever reducing medications) and he / she is healthy enough to participate in routine activities.

Whooping Cough (Pertussis):  Scott County Department of Health recommends if your child has symptoms of whooping cough and is tested for pertussis, he / she should stay home until it is determined if the test is positive or negative.  The test takes up to 3 days to complete.  If the test is positive, students must stay home until the 5-day course of antibiotics is completed.  If the test is negative, students may return to school as long as he/she is fever-free.

Impetigo: Until 24 hours afrer treatment and sores are drying or improving. 

• District Health Guidelines

Schools need your updated contact information in the event of illness or injury at school. If you need to update this information, please call your child's school as soon as possible. You can also submit a "request for change" in your Infinite Campus Parent Portal.

Certain illnesses may cause prolonged absences from school. If that happens, we need a doctor’s note stating the reason your child cannot attend school and the anticipated length of time your child will not be in school.


If your child has an injury that affects his/her participation in Physical Education class, a doctor’s note is needed including the date of return to P.E. The note should state the nature of the injury, what activities are to be avoided and which activities your child can safely do. This will facilitate an easier transition to an alternative activity. If an alternative activity cannot be done, extra credit make up will be required once the injury has healed and full participation is allowed.


If your child cannot participate in P.E. class for only a day or two, we need a note from the parent. The student will then be required to sign up for a make-up/extra credit class that will be held after school to receive credit for the classes that are missed. Extra credit classes can be attended by all students in PE and those points banked to improve the overall grade in the class. In all cases, the student should try to dress according to the requirements of the P.E. class. It is the student’s responsibility to communicate any needs he/she may have with the teacher.