Student & Staff Health Screening
Health Screening and Certification Procedures
The health and well-being of staff and students is a high priority. As required by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) in their return to school guidance, all staff and students will be required to screen themselves daily before reporting to work. Symptoms to be assessed on a daily basis include the following:
- Conducting a temperature check (temperature of 100.4 degrees or higher is considered a COVID-related symptom)
- Checking for any new COVID-related symptoms (symptom list is below and is subject to change based on Illinois Department of Health and CDC guidelines)
Should any staff or student FAIL the daily health screening (either at home or at school), they will not be permitted to attend in-person school. Staff members should contact their immediate supervisor to communicate symptoms (if the screening is failed at home) for further guidance. Building nurses/administrators will provide further guidance related to any exclusion from school as per the following expectations.
· We expect all students and staff to complete the self-certification process before attending school or attempting to ride a school bus. Additionally, we expect parents to only send students to the school and/or bus knowing their child(ren) are well and able to attend school.
The Lake County Health Department has adopted guidance related to schools sending home or denying entry to students and/or staff if ANY of the following symptoms are present:
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Staff and students who display symptoms (either at school or at home) will be required to quarantine for a minimum period of 10 days from the onset of symptoms and for 24 hours with no fever (without taking fever-reducing medications) and improvement of other symptoms OR a physician’s note indicating the individual may return to school. Additionally, schools must also move all students/staff from that classroom to a different classroom so that the contaminated classroom may be cleaned.
Please note, a return to school may occur in fewer than 10 days if one of the following is received and confirmed by the school nurse:
- Verified medical documentation, stating an alternate diagnosis for symptoms and no clinical suspicion for COVID
- Documentation of a negative COVID-19 test (PCR test only)
- Documentation of a previous positive COVID-19 test, indicating recovery within the last three months from testing date.
Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) Guidance
The following two charts provide Decision Tree information for Pre-K-12 schools from the Illinois Department of Public Health. If you are unable to view this document or for printable versions, please visit the IDPH website by clicking here.
PDF download.


Protocols for Staff and/or Students when Symptoms Occur at School
Symptoms include:
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The individual will immediately be isolated from others. Staff will communicate his/her illness with the building principal and leave the facility to go home. For ill students, staff will contact the office immediately. The student will report to the designated “sick” area and wait for a parent to pick him/her up to go home.
The school nurse/building administrator will provide guidance that includes recommending the individual contact their health care provider and discuss testing. Students and staff presenting with symptoms will need a physician’s note to return to school before the 10 days lapse, or they will need to wait the 10 days before returning. All parents of symptomatic students must contact the school nurse before the student may return to school. All symptomatic staff members must contact the school administrator before returning to school.
Classrooms exposed to symptomatic individuals will be cleaned and sanitized prior to being reused.
Information regarding the movement of a classroom or a confirmed case will be provided to those individuals (both students and staff) who are potentially affected by the move and/or positive case. Students or staff determined to be in close contact with a positive case will be excluded from school and must quarantine for a minimum of 14 days from the start of the close contact’s symptoms, regardless of being tested or being asymptomatic. Student can return to school with either a doctor’s notes or a release from quarantine letter from the Lake County Health Department. Proof of a negative covid test (PCR test only) is recommended.
COVID-19 FAQ
Face Masks
Here are the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Development guidelines: • When possible, and at the discretion of the parent or guardian of the child, programs should encourage wearing face coverings for children age 2 and older who can safely and appropriately wear, remove and tolerate masks. • Face coverings should not be worn while children are napping, but physical distancing should be practiced instead. • Face coverings need not be worn while engaging in active outdoor play as long as children are able to keep physical distance from others. • If wearing the face covering causes the child to touch their face more frequently, staff should reconsider whether the face covering is appropriate for the child.
With these guidelines in mind, this is what we are striving for at Quentin Road:
a. All staff members are required to wear masks continually while indoors and outdoors only if they are within 6 feet of anyone.
b. All children in pre-k and older are required to wear their masks all of the time with the exception of snack, lunch, and when playing outdoors. Most of the children are handling this well. For those that are having a hard time, we are sympathetic, patient, and willing to give them a break when they need it.
c. All children in the three year old classes are required to wear their masks while in all of the common areas, but can take a break from them when they are in the classrooms, during snack, meals and when outdoors.
Classroom Procedures
Class sizes will be limited to 17 kids for preschoolers and 20 kids for Kindergarten and older classes. We will do our best to prevent interaction with other classes and to keep the same teachers with the class to limit exposure to more people. • We are not going to use drinking fountains at school, but we will provide disposable cups of water. Your child is welcome to bring a water bottle from home as long as it goes home daily to be cleaned. • Meals will be served in the classrooms instead of the cafeteria to keep classes separate. • Only one class at a time will occupy the playgrounds and gymnasiums. • Social Distancing – we will try to keep the kids spread out when practical (lunchtime, nap time, story time, craft time), but we don’t want them to be anxious about this or get upset because we won’t let them play with their friends. They will interact with only the 15 kids in their classroom, but not with any other classes. We have 43 acres and we plan on using all of them to give everyone space. • We are asking parents to drop off/pick up children from the lobby rather than walking through the building. Feel free to send us a Brightwheel message when you are on your way and we can have your child waiting for you in the lobby. • We will take temperatures for all kids upon arrival and have them clean hands and shoes before entering the classroom. We will clean hands before and after each activity throughout the day. • We do have a nurse on staff to do health checks and make sure that we are all washing our hands correctly. • We would like to encourage the kids to wear their face mask while indoors as much as possible throughout the day. They are allowed to take them off if they can’t tolerate them.
Will Quentin Road close if there is another "shelter in place"?
I am assuming that child care will remain an “essential” business which would allow us to stay open to provide care for children of “essential workers”. We do not require proof of parents employment. There are a lot of businesses that are considered “essential”. We are happy to care for any children that need us. Those who choose to stay at home will not be charged. We can’t hold your spot, but would encourage you to call us when you are ready to return and we will do our best to accommodate your schedule at that time.
How will I be notified when there is a positive COVID-19 case at Quentin Road?
We will contact you through email and Brightwheel if your child is a close contact of someone who tested positive at Quentin Road. (For COVID-19, a close contact is anyone who was within 6 feet of an infected person for a total of 15 minutes or more. An infected person can spread COVID-19 starting 48 hours (or 2 days) before the person has any symptoms or tests positive for COVID-19). We will ask you to keep your child at home for 14 days and watch for any symptoms. As of today, we haven’t had any children at QRCP test positive.