As we begin the school year, our school nurses want to encourage you to make healthy decisions for your child and our schools. One of the best ways to help is by keeping your children (or yourself!) home during illnesses. Children who are ill should be kept home regardless of symptom severity, including cold or flu-type illnesses.
Please do not send your child to school when they are sick.
COVID-19 continues to be prevalent in our community, and our school nurses are observing both COVID and non-COVID illnesses in students arriving at school. Remember, illness is not solely determined by temperature and may present as a variety of symptoms, including congestion, cough, sniffles, and sore throats.
MLSD is required to adhere to WA State DOH COVID guidelines. This means that if your student has ONE or MORE of the following symptoms, please keep them home and test for COVID-19:
Fever/chills (≥100.4℉)
Shortness of breath/breathing difficulty
Body aches
A new loss of taste/smell
Cough
Nausea/vomiting/diarrhea
Fatigue
Sore throat
Congestion/runny nose
If your student’s test is negative, please keep them home until symptoms have drastically improved or are gone/there has been no fever for the past 24 hours without fever-reducing medication.
If your student’s test is positive, plan to keep them home for at least five days following the onset of symptoms and contact your school nurse for specifics/details.
It's up to all of us to keep our schools healthy and safe for students and staff. As always, you may contact your school nurse if you have questions. Thank you for helping us to keep our schools healthy!
Students and staff are required to stay home when they are not feeling well and stay home until they feel better.
Please stay home if you have any of these symptoms:
Congestion
Fever of 100.4+ or chills
Runny nose
Muscle or body aches
Vomiting
Loss of smell or taste
Diarrhea
Cough (new or worsening)
Extreme fatigue
Sore throat
24-HOUR RULE
Returning to school too soon may slow recovery and make others sick.
FEVER: Stay home until the fever has been gone without medication for 24 hours.
VOMITING or DIARRHEA: Stay home for 24 hours after the last time you vomited or had diarrhea.
If your child has been sent home with any of these symptoms, we expect them to be absent the next day.
ONCE YOU FEEL BETTER
You may return once you are 24 hours fever, vomit, and diarrhea-free (without medication) and all other symptoms are significantly improved.
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