What happens if my child is sick or hurt and you cannot reach me? If your child becomes ill while at school or sustains an injury that requires further medical attention, you will be notified immediately. For this reason, it is important that we have all of your phone numbers available to us. In addition to the parent/guardian contact numbers, please be sure to provide us with at least one, and hopefully two, emergency contacts that we can call in the event that we cannot reach you. We understand that sometimes parents/guardians can’t get to the school to pick up their child in a timely manner, but in that instance, we need to have someone else (extended family, friends, etc.) to call that can come and pick your child up fairly readily. Sick and injured children cannot be left in the health office for extended periods of time waiting for someone to pick them up. Additionally, if your child needs to be transported by rescue to a local hospital, please know that a staff member known to your child will go with them to the hospital until you or a designated family/friend can meet up with them.
If my child’s not feeling 100% well in the morning, how do I decide whether or not they are well enough to come to school? If your child is ill to the extent that it will be difficult for them to readily participate in any or all activities of a normal day, it is best to keep your child home. Foxborough Public School policy regarding illness states that any child with a temperature of 100 degrees or more needs to be sent home and will not be allowed back to school the next day. If you child has a temperature of 100 degrees or more at home, please do not send them to school. Children MUST remain home for a full 24 hours after they become fever free. Fever free means they have a temperature LESS THAN 100 degrees without the assistance of fever lowering medication, such as Ibuprofen or Tylenol. Other reasons to keep your child home include: vomiting and/or diarrhea. Your child needs to remain home for 24 hours after vomiting. Children also need to stay home after being placed on antibiotics for an infectious process (conjunctivitis, also known as pink eye, impetigo, strep throat, etc.). If your child is placed on antibiotics for an infection, the twenty-four hours begins from the time they take their first dose of antibiotics. Hence, if your child has strep throat, and their first dose of antibiotics is at 11:30 a.m., your child MAY NOT return to school until 11:30 a.m. the next day. Also, if your child has a cold whereby they are runny, drippy and coughing up a storm, regardless of whether or not they have a fever, PLEASE keep them home. The same holds true on our end. If you child is coughing non-stop and/or is experiencing a lot of drainage, you will be asked to come pick them up.
What happens if my child is found to have a rash at school? Some rashes I am familiar with and some I am not. If I know for sure that the rash is nothing to be concerned with and is NOT considered contagious, they are welcome to come to school, or if discovered in school, they are able to remain in school. However, if the rash looks suspicious to me, I will ask that your child be picked up and seen by a physician prior to their return to school. I will also ask that the physician write a note letting me know if the rash is contagious or not, and if it is, they will need to remain out of school for the prescribed period of time (e.g. if placed on antibiotics, they will need to be on it for a full 24 hours before returning to school). If the physician indicates that it's not contagious and they're able to return to school, please send in that note with your child the next school day. In addition to that, if you can send me an email as well, that would be helpful.