District Health Announcements
Launch the media gallery 1 playerNEW VACCINE REQUIREMENT FOR ALL 7th & 12TH GRADERS FOR THE 2017-18 SCHOOL YEAR
The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) passed a new law in January of 2017, requiring MENINGOCOCCAL (A,C,W,Y) vaccine for ALL students enrolling in 7th & 12th grades. (Tdap is also required for All 7th graders.)
Proof of vaccination needs to be provided BEFORE the 1st day of school or students will NOT be allowed to attend school.
THERE IS NO GRACE/EXTENSION PERIOD FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS REQUIREMENT.
A Medical or Religious Certificate of Exemption is accepted.
If you have questions, do not hesitate to contact Heather in the elementary office.
DOWNLOADABLE FORMS
Perscription/Non-Prescription Medication
Kindergarten Registration Checklist
Diabetes Medical Management Plan
ILLNESS
A child should be kept home from school if the following conditions exist: nausea, vomiting, loose stools, sore throat, excessive coughing, earache, red eyes, or rash. A fever should be normal 24 hours without medication before sending a child to school.
Parents will be notified of any serious injury or illness of their child. Parents are expected to come for ill children if notified. No child will be sent home without a parent’s or authorized person’s permission. The child will remain at school in the nurse’s office if no one can be contacted.
DISMISSAL PROCEDURE:
1) Parents, or their designee, must be notified before a student is allowed to leave school.
2) Transportation will be approved or arranged by the parent or designee.
3) Teacher and/or office staff will be notified.
4) Parent or designee will sign student out in the office area.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION/ACTIVITY PARTICIPATION
in the event that a student returns to school after an injury or illness, and is unable to participate in physical education or recess, parents are requested to provide a detailed doctor's note releasing the student from restricted or full participation in these activities. If a note is not given to the health department, the student will be expected to participate as planned.
HEADLICE
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says no healthy child should be excluded from or allowed to miss school because of head lice, and that “no nit” policies for return to school should be discouraged. The AAP recommendations for treating head lice also include:
*School personnel responsible for detecting head lice should be appropriately trained, as it can be difficult to diagnose.
*Permethrin 1 percent (an insecticide) is currently the recommended treatment for head lice.
*Head lice screening programs in schools do not have a significant effect on the incidence of head lice and are not cost-effective. Parent education may be a more appropriated management tool.
*Manually removing nits after medication for killing lice is not necessary to prevent spread. However, it may be prudent to remove nits in school-aged children to decrease the chance of misdiagnosis. Nit removal is tedious and often cannot be accomplished in one sitting.
Because a child with an active head lice infestation has likely had the infestation for a month or more by the time it is discovered, and because the child poses little risk to others and does not have a resulting health problem, he or she should remain in class, but be discouraged from close direct head contact with others.
Head lice are most common in children three to 12 years of age, and all socioeconomic groups are affected. Head lice infestation is not significantly influenced by hair length or by frequent brushing or shampooing. Lice cannot hop or fly; they crawl. Transmission in most cases occurs by direct contact with the head of another infested individual. Indirect spread through contact with personal belongings of an infested individual (combs, brushes, hats) is much less likely, but cannot be excluded. Children should be taught not to share such items.
Adults should be aware of the signs and symptoms of head lice infestation, and affected children should be treated promptly to minimize spread to others.
EDITOR’S NOTE: More information on this topic can be found at: Steps to Remove
EMERGENCY INFORMATION/ACCIDENTS AT SCHOOL
Emergency information is required of all students. In our files, we need not only your home phone number, work numbers, cell numbers, and at least two other emergency numbers in case of illness or injury. Emergency cards completed by parents are an important part of registration. Please include the phone number of a friend or relative who can be reached in the event of illness or emergency. Please help us keep this information current. If there is any change of information, such as an address change, a change in employment or any other pertinent information, please inform the office so that this information may be placed on your child’s emergency card. This is vital if we are to act quickly and properly in case of accidental injury or illness.
It is our policy to contact parents if a child receives a bump on the head or is injured in a way that indicates that the parent might want to consider medical assistance. In the event your child is injured or becomes ill at school, the following steps will be taken:
1. The supervising teacher will report the accident to the principal or nurse along with the
details of the accident.
2. If the accident or illness is of a serious nature, the parents will be notified immediately.
3. If the parents cannot be located, the emergency number(s) given to us will be called.
4. If no one can be reached, the principal and/or nurse will decide what needs to be done. Parents are expected to come for ill children if notified. No child will be sent home without a parent’s or authorized person’s permission.
IMMUNIZATIONS
A student enrolling for the first time in a school in the district shall submit a certificate of immunization in compliance with the Iowa school immunization law. As this Iowa Immunization law is revised, all students kindergarten through twelfth grade, must update any required immunizations. Students may be exempted from this requirement for medical or religious reasons as outlined in the Iowa Code. If the immunization record is not up to date, the parent/guardian will be notified, and the student will be asked to remain home from school until the immunizations have been given, or the series of immunizations started.