St. Joseph grade encourages parents to keep kids home if sick

St. Joseph Grade School is reminding parents to keep their children at home if they are sick.

“Unfortunately this time of year brings lots of illness and we have plenty going around our building,” said Principal Michelle Wagner. “Since mid-November we have had multiple students out of school with pneumonia, influenza and strep.”

Wagner said the district wanted to remind parents about the illness guidelines in the school handbook.
“We do want your children at school so they can get the full lesson from the teacher, but it is important to ensure they get proper rest and time to recover when they are sick,” she said.  

The district requires parents to keep children home from school if they have a fever of 100 degrees or higher, has been vomiting, has symptoms that prevent them from participating in school such as a excessive tiredness, lack of appetite, productive cough, headache, body aches, earache or diarrhea. They also require students to stay home if they have a sore throat because strep throat doesn’t always present with a fever, sometimes it presents with a headache and upset stomach. Children should stay home until they are fever free, without medication, for 24 hours. They also should stay home until vomiting has stopped for 24 hours.

The school also reminded parents of flu symptoms: high fever, chills, headache, body ache, earache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and dry cough.