School Nurse and Health

Reporting a Student Absence

Student absences of any kind may be reported using the Absence Reporting Form. A separate form must be completed for each child in your family who will be absent. If you are reporting an appointment and plan to pick up your student within the next hour, please contact your student’s school.

Absence Reporting Form

Guidelines for Keeping Students Home From School

Students should remain home when sick. Parent(s)/guardian(s) are requested to keep children home if they show signs of fever, illness, infection, or contagious disease (see Common Child Illnesses and Exclusion Criteria for Education and Child Care Settings).

COVID-19 Advisory

Students with any high-risk symptom or two or more low-risk symptoms for COVID-19 are recommended to stay home and are advised to seek an evaluation by a health care provider. For added convenience, the school has created an online Absence Reporting Form (insert link) to easily report a student absence.

COVID-19 High Risk Symptoms

New cough
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
New loss of taste or smell

COVID-19 Low Risk Symptoms (2 or more symptoms)

Fever 100.4
Headache
Muscle and body aches
Fatigue
Sore throat
Runny nose
Congestion
Nausea
Vomiting
Diarrhea

When can the child return to school

For Non-COVID-19 Illnesses :

Return to school after 24 hours with no fever (without the use of fever-reducing medicine) and symptoms improving.

Child has a Negative COVID-19 Test AND no close COVID-19 contacts:

Return to school after 24 hours with no fever (without the use of fever-reducing medicine) and symptoms improving.
Students testing negative for COVID-19 infection and who ARE close contacts of a confirmed case are advised to consider to continue to self-quarantine until 14 days after their last exposure to the confirmed case.

Positive COVID-19 Test:

Return to school after at least 10 days since symptoms started, and improving symptoms, and 24 hours with no fever (without the use of fever-reducing medicine).
If people test positive for COVID-19 infection and never get sick (asymptomatic), assume that they could pass it to others from 10 days before they were tested until 10 days after they were tested.

Please make sure your phone number and contact information is up-to-date in Infinite Campus.

If a Student Becomes Sick at School

If a student becomes ill while at school, the student must see the nurse for assessment. Students must not call or text parents. The nurse will determine if the student needs to go home and will contact the student’s parents. Unless the nurse recommends that the student go home, the student’s absence will be unexcused.

For specific medical concerns contact your building’s School Nurse listed below.

School Medical Requirements

These medical requirements are from the Iowa Department of Public Health and the school Health Office. Please reach out to your building nurse with any questions.

Iowa Student Immunization

Mandatory Blood Lead Screening for Kindergarten

Annual Health History Form

Google Translate Logo Annual Health History Form: Spanish
Annual Health History Form: Chinese
Annual Health History Form: Arabic