When To Keep Your Child Home From School
English and Arabic Forms Below:
When To Keep Your Child Home From School Arabic Updated
When To Keep Your Child Home From School (English)
Chickenpox
Keep child home until they have no new sores for 24 hours AND all sores are dried and crusted. During an outbreak of chickenpox, children who are NOT vaccinated for chickenpox (Varicella) and have been in close contact with someone sick with the infection will not be allowed at school for 21 days after they were last exposed to chickenpox, even if they are not sick.
Diarrhea
Keep child home with two loose or watery stools within 24 hours, even if there are no other signs of illness. Keep child home until no diarrhea for 24 hours.
Fever
Keep child home with temperature 100.5 degrees or higher. Keep child home until fever-free for 24 hours without using fever-reducing medicine such as Motrin and Tylenol.
Flu-like symptoms
Sudden onset of fever, chills, muscle aches; may also have vomiting and diarrhea. Keep child home until symptom-free for 24 hours.
Head lice
Keep child home until treatment is completed and all live lice are gone.
Impetigo
Keep child home until treatment has been started. Lesions must be covered while in school.
MRSA
Keep child home if sore is draining, and cannot be covered with a clean, dry bandage. Keep child home if they cannot keep from picking at sore.
Rash
Keep child home until seen by a doctor and treated if needed. The school may request a doctor’s note to return to school.
Strep throat
Keep child home until 24 hours after the first dose of antibiotics have been started.
Pink eye
Keep child home until seen by a doctor and until 24 hours after first dose of medicine, if prescribed.
Ringworm
Keep child home until seen by a doctor and until treatment has been started. Area must remain covered at school until completely healed.
Scabies
Keep child home until treatment is completed.
Vomiting
Keep child home until no vomiting for 24 hours.
Abdominal Pain
Keep child home with abdominal pain that continues for more than 2 hours or intermittent pain with a fever or other symptoms.
Reference: Managing Communicable Diseases in Schools, MDHSS, Version 2.0 (May 2016).
(Revised: 02/18)