Sick Day Guidance
Below are some specific instructions from the School Health Office that are intended to help you navigate these “Stay Home When Sick” requirements.
Staff and students will not be permitted to attend from in-person school activities if they answered yes to any of the Daily Health Check questions and/or have a fever of or greater than 100.4℉.
Keep in mind that a temperature reading is only one piece of a COVID-19 health assessment. While a child’s temperature may be in the normal range, they may have other symptoms that warrant staying home and/or seeing a healthcare provider. A doctor’s note will be required for returning to school. Please note that this requirement may be changed based on recommendations from the Vermont Department of Health.
We appreciate your help to keep everyone in our school community well and our students ready to learn.
When you call the school to report your child’s absence, please specify what type of symptoms they have: fever, cough, issues with breathing, stomachache, diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, or other. This will support our efforts to monitor the frequency and number of illnesses. We thank you in advance for your assistance with this important aspect of school health.
If any of the symptoms of COVID-19 begin while at school, the student or staff member will be sent home as soon as possible. Sick students will be kept separate from well students and will have limited contact with staff. Please make sure you have updated PowerSchool so that your child has contacts available who can pick them up (ideally within 30 minutes of the call).
Additionally:
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Students and staff will not be permitted to return to school until they are no longer considered contagious.
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Students and staff with a fever greater than 100.4℉ and no specific diagnosis should remain at home until they have had no fever for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medications (e.g. Advil, Tylenol, etc.).
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Materials, toys, and furniture touched by the student who is sent home will be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.
Healthy students and staff with the following symptoms/conditions will be permitted to attend in-person school activities:
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Allergy symptoms (with no fever) that cause coughing and clear runny nose may stay if they have medically diagnosed allergies and follow medical treatment plans.
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Well-controlled asthma
The Health Department is currently drafting symptom and testing protocols to support return-to-school determinations for students with COVID-like symptoms. Once finalized, this will be posted on the Health Department website and used at MCS.