School Health
GBCS: School Health
When to Stay Home
Updates from Michigan Department of Health and Human Services on when to keep students home from school 9/2024
Many illnesses do not require exclusion. However, children may be excluded if the illness prevents the child from participating comfortably in school activities or if there is risk of spread of harmful disease to others. These criteria also apply to when staff should be excluded.
Criteria include:
Severely ill – lethargic, difficulty breathing, or rapidly spreading rash
Fever 101F or greater AND behavior change or other signs of illness
Staff can use their best judgement if the child does not have a fever of 101F or greater, but still appears significantly ill with symptoms such as glassy eyes and lethargy
The child should not return until there is no fever for 24 hours, without the use of fever-reducing medications
Diarrhea – 2 or more loose watery stools
The child should have no loose stools for 24 hours prior to returning to school unless health care provider determines it’s not infectious.
Vomiting – vomited 2 or more times
The child should have no vomiting episodes for 24 hours prior to returning unless health care provider has determined the vomiting is not due to an infectious condition.
Abdominal pain – abdominal pain that continues for more than 2 hours or intermittent pain associated with fever or other symptoms
Rash – rash AND a fever or change in behavior
Respiratory symptoms - Worsening or not improving, and not explained by another cause (e.g., allergies)
Skin Sore – weeping sores on an exposed area that cannot be covered with a waterproof dressing
Communicable Diseases – chart for exclusion/return included in guideline
When NOT to exclude a student from school – examples on Pg 15 of guideline linked below
District Nurse Consultants
GBCS employs 2 full time Registered Nurses who travel to 13 buildings in our district in addtion to ancillary departments to assist with student medical needs, provide staff training on medical conditions, medications, medical emergency response, as well as case management, policy and procedure reviews. Nurses monitor illness trends throughout the district, community, and country, and provide education on health promotion and safety. Nurses evaluate injuries and illnesses on site when available and provide consultation on communicable disease processes partnering with the Genesee County Health Department.
Rachel O’Mara, RN, BSN – lead district nurse consultant
Office at East Middle School
High School East: Wednesday and Friday
Daily Coverage for Cook, Indian Hill, Mason, Myers, EMS, High School East and West
Email: romara@gbcs.org
Rebecca Fredrick, RN, BSN – assistant district nurse consultant
Office at West Middle School
High School East: Tuesday and Thursday
Daily coverage for Anderson, Brendel, McGrath, Perry, Early Childhood, Reid, and WMS
Email: rfredric@gbcs.org
Hot Topics
Medication at school
Our goal is your child’s safety and your help is needed to achieve this goal! Students are not to carry medication without orders per district policy.
All medication authorizations must be renewed at the beginning of each school year. The order is good for one school year unless shorter time frame ordered by physician. Authorization forms must be completed for both prescription and non-prescription medications.
Each medication needs its own authorization
Refill of the medication is the responsibility of the parent/guardian
Expired medication will not be administered
Action plans for health conditions such as Diabetes, Seizures, and Allergies must be completed every school year
Unused medication will be discarded unless picked up by the parent/guardian on or before the last day of school
FOOD ALLERGIES: Dietary restriction form is available on the Food Services department webpage, foods can be substituted with a form on file, including gluten free options!
Additional information and forms can be found on the medical forms tab of this site.
MERT
Medical Emergency Response Team
Every school building in our district has a MERT team, a group of trained staff members who are assigned roles and respond to medical emergencies during the school day.
MERT training is done annually and each team goes through a suprise drill in which the teams are tested on their response time and action plans.
We are grateful for our MERT members here at GBCS who jump into action when duty calls.
Food Allergies
There are about 5.9 million kids living with food allergies, 1 in 13 kids under the age of 18. Nearly 40% of those kids have suffered a severe or life-threatening reaction. We would like to increase awareness about food allergies by reminding students and parents of the following:
Food allergies are very serious. It is not a joking matter.
Reactions can be life threatening.
Preventing exposure is crucial
Don’t share food, forks, knives, spoons, or straws with friends
Wash hands after eating. Some people with food allergies can get sick even if they are touched by something that has a tiny bit of food on it.
Food allergies can make Halloween even scarier. Please remember not to bring anything with nuts into the classroom.
If a friend with allergies is sick, tell an adult right away. This will make sure that your friend gets help and gets the medicine they need to feel better.
Regional Alliance for Healthy Schools: Healthcare available for anyone under 21 years old
Call your RAHS school-based health center for an appointment for Physical Health, Behaviorial Health, and Tangilble Resoures.
No out of pocket costs.