Health

School Health Program

Physical and Dentral Examinations and Immunizations
Physical examinations and inoculations, as prescribed by the State Department of Public Health, are required of all students within one year prior to entrance into the pre-kindergarten program, kindergarten or 1st grade, and upon entering 6th grade. Parents can get low-cost immunizations through the Skokie Health Department (847-933-8252). Students entering kindergarten, 2nd grade and 6th grade must have a dental exam before the school year starts. Students who have not met these requirements by October 15th are subject to exclusion from school.

Administering Medicine

Prescription and over-the-counter medications will be administered by District health personnel only in exceptional circumstances where the prescribed medication interval requires that it be administered during school hours and when the parent requests and a physician certifies that the timing of such medication requires administration in school. The District will not provide any over-the-counter medications. All medications must be provided by the parent with written permission to the health clerk; medications must be in the original container with the student's name on it. School health personnel will not administer injections, except to assist students with emergency medication for diabetes and allergies when a physician has provided the school with instructions for such injections and the parent has requested such assistance. Students may not bring to school or consume any medication in school for which the above procedures have not been followed. If you have any questions about medications, contact your school health office.

Placement of Students with Chronic Communicable Diseases

Students with chronic communicable diseases will be accommodated in the school setting as long as the risk of disease transmission is sufficiently remote to outweigh the educational disadvantages from the student's placement in a more restrictive setting. If a student is required to be in a non-school setting, an appropriate educational program shall be developed and provided.
Every effort will be made to maintain the confidentiality of any student with a chronic communicable disease. Only those individuals with a legal right to know will be informed of the student's identity. The District will not announce or confirm any case or cases of students infected with chronic communicable diseases. All school personnel will be trained annually in the use of universal precautions related to bloodborne infections.
Details of the school district's policy and procedures for dealing with individuals with chronic communicable diseases, as well as the District's Exposure Control Plan, are available from your school office.

Health Screening Programs
Parents are advised of possible problems identified during screenings for follow-up action, as follows.

Head lice All students are screened at the beginning of the school year, after winter recess and as necessary. Those with lice may not return to school until found nit free by the school health clerk.

Hearing Students in grades K through 3, Special Ed. Students, Transfer Students and Teacher Referrals

Vision Students in K, 2, 8, Special Ed. Students, Transfer Students and Teacher Referrals

Communicable Diseases and Exclusion Periods

Disease	First Symptoms	Incubation Period	Quarantine Period	Control
Chicken Pox	Fever, tiny blisters on red spots	14-21 days	Not less than 5 days after appearance of eruption	None
German Measles	Signs of fever, swollen glands, rash	14-21 days	May return on fifth day after onsent of rash, if free of symptoms	None
*Measles	Fever, signs of cold, running nose, dry cough, red eyes	8-13 days	From diagnosis until 4 days after appearance of rash	Unimmunized children will be excluded from school for 21 days
Mumps	Pain and swelling about jaws, sore throat, fever, nausea	12-26 days	9 days after onset or until swelling has disappeared	None
*Whooping cough	Sign of cold, cough with whoop, vomiting	7-28 day	3 weeks after appearance of whoop or until adequate antibiotic treatment is given	Immunized may attend school. Unimmunized to remain home 14 days
Scarlet Fever Scarlatina	Sore throat, fever, vomiting, rash	1-3 days	Isolation may be terminated after 24 hours' treatment with penicillin or other appropriate antibacterial agents provided treatment is continued for a minimum of ten days	None
*Streptococcal Sore Throat	Sore throat, fever, vomiting	1-3 days		None
Head Lice	Itching and irritation of scalp. Close inspection will reveal insects moving about head and "nits" fastened securely to base of hair.		Child is excluded from school. Family physician should be consulted for treatment.	Children may not return to school until they are "Nit Free".

See chart above for quarantine periods for communicable diseases. These recommendations are in accord with those of the Illinois Department of Public Health. Report all communicable diseases to your school and to the Skokie Health Department at 847-933-8252. A written confirmation by a physician must be provided to the school confirming the communicable disease and a release from the physician must accompany the student on return to school.

If a child is found to have a fever (99.4 degrees or above), his/her parents will be notified by the school health office personnel. A student may not return to school until he/she has been temperature-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications. A child having a contagious disease need to be taking medication for 24 hours before returning to school.

©2010 Skokie School District 68