Student & Staff Health Symptom Monitoring
The health and well-being of staff and students is a high priority. All students and staff are required to screen themselves daily at home before reporting to work/school for any COVID-like symptom development. Students/staff experiencing any COVID symptoms as defined by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) should not report to school/work. Household members (staff, siblings) may still attend work/school so long as they are symptom free and/or are not awaiting test results.
· Achiness (muscles/body) · Shortness of breath · New cough | · Diarrhea · Fatigue from unknown cause · Fever (100.4 F or higher) | · New onset of moderate or severe headache · New loss of sense of taste/smell · Sore throat · Vomiting |
Staff and students should contact the school nurse if they have any questions.
Mitigation Strategies:
· Regular cleaning and disinfection in school
· Stressing the importance of symptom monitoring and keeping students (and staff members) home when ill
· Provision of testing opportunities for staff who present with COVID-like symptoms during the workday
· Continued teaching and reinforcement of hand hygiene practices
Additionally, we will continue to monitor health data (internal COVID 19 cases) to make determinations regarding additional mitigation strategies as appropriate.
Protocols for When Symptoms Occur at School
In cases where COVID-like symptoms are observed/reported at school, the student will report to the Nurse’s Office for further assessment. At the conclusion of the assessment (which includes determining whether symptoms displayed are part of an underlying, previously-documented health condition), the nurse (or designee) will determine whether the student needs to be excluded from school due to the symptoms displayed.
In any case where a student is excluded, families will receive information about ways in which a student may be cleared to return.
A student can return to school by following any one of the three protocols below:
- Obtain a negative COVID test
- Produce a doctor note outlining an alternate diagnosis/stating that there is no clinical suspicion of COVID
- Returning 5 days following the onset of symptoms
NOTE: If a student is experiencing vomiting or diarrhea, they must remain out of school for 24 hours after the symptom(s) subside (even if they obtain a negative COVID test) - according to current school exclusion requirements.
What to do if a child or staff member tests positive for COVID:
· If positive for COVID, report the results to the school. You will need to isolate for 5 days following the onset of symptoms or from your test date (if symptom-free). contacts. Return to school/work on day 6 if you are fever free for 24 hours have seen an improvement of symptoms.