District 58 has seen a decrease in student attendance in the last few years, including the beginning of 2023-24 school year. Showing up to school every day is critical for children’s well-being, engagement and learning. As the cold and flu season begins, we wanted to share the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) health guidance for attending school. Click here to see the flyer.
You may send children to school if they are generally healthy and well and participating in usual day-to-day activities.
Children can even go to school if they:
- Have a mild cold, which may include a runny nose and/or cough
- Have eye drainage without fever, eye pain or eyelid redness
- Have a mild stomachache
- Have a mild rash with no other symptoms
- Have head lice; though they are annoying and should be treated, lice are not a reason to exclude a child from school (as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the NASN
- Haven’t had a fever overnight and they have not taken fever-reducing medicine during that time.