Illness
When your child is ill, please contact the school to let us know they will not be attending that day. State rules require schools to exclude students with certain illnesses from school for certain periods of time. For example, a child with a fever over 100 degrees must stay out of school until fever-free for 24 hours without use of fever-reducing medications. Students with diarrheal illnesses must stay home until they are diarrhea-free without use of diarrhea-suppressing medications for 24 hours.

A full list of conditions for which the school must exclude children can be obtained from the school nurse. If a student becomes ill during the school day and the school nurse determines that the child should go home, the nurse will contact the parent. The district is required to report certain contagious (communicable) diseases or illnesses to the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) or our local/regional health authority. The school nurse can provide information from DSHS on these notifiable conditions. The school nurse is available to answer any questions for parents who are concerned about whether or not their child should stay home.

Doctor’s Note After an Absence for Illness
Within two days of returning to school, a student who is absent for more than five consecutive days because of a personal illness must bring a statement from a doctor or health clinic verifying the illness or condition that caused the absence. Otherwise, the absence may be considered unexcused and in violation of compulsory attendance laws. If the student develops a questionable pattern of absences, the principal or attendance committee may require a statement from a doctor or health clinic verifying the illness or condition that caused the absence to determine whether an absence will be excused or unexcused.

Certification of Absence Due to Severe Illness or Treatment
If a student is absent because of a serious or life-threatening illness or related treatment that makes a student’s attendance infeasible, a parent must provide certification from a physician licensed to practice in Texas specifying the student’s illness and the anticipated period of absence related to the illness or treatment on the district’s form. A parent may access the required form by asking the principal.

Lice
Head lice is very common among children. Although not an illness or a disease, head lice spread through head-to-head contact during play, sports, nap time, and when children share things like brushes, combs, hats, and headphones. The district does not require or recommend that students be removed from school because of lice or nits. If careful observation indicates that a student has head lice, the school nurse will contact the student’s parent to discuss a treatment plan using an FDA-approved medicated shampoo or cream rinse that may be purchased from any drug or grocery store. After the student undergoes one treatment, the parent should contact the school nurse to discuss the treatment used. The nurse can also offer additional recommendations, including subsequent treatments, how best to get rid of lice, and how to prevent lice from returning. The district will provide notice to parents of elementary school students in an affected classroom without identifying the student with lice. More information on head lice is available on the DSHS website Managing Head Lice in School.

More information on head lice is available on the DSHS website Managing Head Lice in SchoolSettings and at Home and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website About Head Lice.