District Nurse
districtnurse@ridgway.k12.co.us
Health Office Forms
CO Asthma Care Plan Feb2021_Final form_enabled (1).pdfAsthma Care Plan - Use this form if your child has asthma and needs to keep an inhaler at school
Standard Health Plan for Allergy-Anaphylaxis PDF enabled - June 2018 (1).pdfAllergy/Anaphylaxis Care Plan - Use this form if your child has severe allergies and need to keep an epi pen and other medications at school
selfcarry_medication_contract2010 (7).doc (1) (1).docxSelf Carry Contract - for students who are eligible to self- carry an asthma inhaler or epi pen with them at school
Permission for Med..pdfPermission for Medication - Use this form if your child needs to take medication (including over the counter medication) at school
Illness Policy
DEHS_ChildCare_How_Sick_Is_Too_Sick_vs2022.pdfHow Sick is Too Sick? When Children and Staff Should Stay Hom from School
March 1, 2024. CDC released today updated recommendations for how people can protect themselves and their communities from respiratory viruses, including COVID-19. The new guidance brings a unified approach to addressing risks from a range of common respiratory viral illnesses, such as COVID-19, flu, and RSV, which can cause significant health impacts and strain on hospitals and health care workers. CDC is making updates to the recommendations now because the U.S. is seeing far fewer hospitalizations and deaths associated with COVID-19 and because we have more tools than ever to combat flu, COVID, and RSV.
“Today’s announcement reflects the progress we have made in protecting against severe illness from COVID-19,” said CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen. “However, we still must use the commonsense solutions we know work to protect ourselves and others from serious illness from respiratory viruses—this includes vaccination, treatment, and staying home when we get sick.”
As part of the guidance, CDC provides active recommendations on core prevention steps and strategies:
Staying up to date with vaccination to protect people against serious illness, hospitalization, and death. This includes flu, COVID-19, and RSV if eligible.
Practicing good hygiene by covering coughs and sneezes, washing or sanitizing hands often, and cleaning frequently touched surfaces.
Taking steps for cleaner air, such as bringing in more fresh outside air, purifying indoor air, or gathering outdoors.
When people get sick with a respiratory virus, the updated guidance recommends that they stay home and away from others. For people with COVID-19 and influenza, treatment is available and can lessen symptoms and lower the risk of severe illness. The recommendations suggest returning to normal activities when, for at least 24 hours, symptoms are improving overall, and if a fever was present, it has been gone without use of a fever-reducing medication.
Once people resume normal activities, they are encouraged to take additional prevention strategies for the next 5 days to curb disease spread, such as taking more steps for cleaner air, enhancing hygiene practices, wearing a well-fitting mask, keeping a distance from others, and/or getting tested for respiratory viruses. Enhanced precautions are especially important to protect those most at risk for severe illness, including those over 65 and people with weakened immune systems. CDC’s updated guidance reflects how the circumstances around COVID-19 in particular have changed. While it remains a threat, today it is far less likely to cause severe illness because of widespread immunity and improved tools to prevent and treat the disease. Importantly, states and countries that have already adjusted recommended isolation times have not seen increased hospitalizations or deaths related to COVID-19.
While every respiratory virus does not act the same, adopting a unified approach to limiting disease spread makes recommendations easier to follow and thus more likely to be adopted and does not rely on individuals to test for illness, a practice that data indicates is uneven.
“The bottom line is that when people follow these actionable recommendations to avoid getting sick, and to protect themselves and others if they do get sick, it will help limit the spread of respiratory viruses, and that will mean fewer people who experience severe illness,” National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases Director Dr. Demetre Daskalakis said. “That includes taking enhanced precautions that can help protect people who are at higher risk for getting seriously ill.”
The updated guidance also includes specific sections with additional considerations for people who are at higher risk of severe illness from respiratory viruses, including people who are immunocompromised, people with disabilities, people who are or were recently pregnant, young children, and older adults. Respiratory viruses remain a public health threat. CDC will continue to focus efforts on ensuring the public has the information and tools to lower their risk or respiratory illness by protecting themselves, families, and communities.
This updated guidance is intended for community settings. There are no changes to respiratory virus guidance for healthcare settings.
Helpful Links
School Events
May 10th: River Valley Family Health Center will be offering sports physicals for rising 6th- 12th graders at the secondary school for $25.
School-Required Vaccines and Immunization Exemption Information
Colorado law (Board of Health rule 6 CCR 1009-2) requires all students attending Colorado schools and licensed child cares to be vaccinated against certain diseases, unless an exemption is filed.
Students with an immunization exemption on file may be kept out of a child care facility or school during a disease outbreak. The length of time will vary depending on the type of the disease and the circumstances of the outbreak.
For example, if someone at your child’s school becomes sick with measles and your child has not received an MMR vaccine, they may need to stay home from their program for 21 days.
Vaccines required to enter child care
Hepatitis B (HepB).
Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (DTaP).
Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib).
Inactivated poliovirus (IPV).
Pneumococcal conjugate (PCV).
Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR).
Varicella (chickenpox).
Vaccines required to enter school (K-12)
Hepatitis B (HepB).
Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (DTaP).*
Inactivated poliovirus (IPV).*
Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR).*
Varicella (chickenpox).*
Tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis (Tdap).**
*Students 4 through 6 years of age are required to have their final doses of DTaP, IPV, MMR and Varicella prior to kindergarten entry.
**Students are required to have Tdap prior to entry into 6th grade. One dose of Tdap is required for 6th through 12th grades.
Immunization Exemption Information
When exempting a student from one or more school-required vaccines, a student’s parent or legal guardian is responsible for completing a Certificate of Non- Medical Exemption to the school each year or a one-time Medical Exemption.
There are two ways to obtain a Certificate of Nonmedical Exemption.
Obtain a Certificate of Nonmedical Exemption by fully reviewing and completing the Online Immunization Education Module. This does not require the signature of my/my child’s health care provider. Submit and/or print the completed certificate.
The child's health care provider meets the criteria to sign the Certificate of Nonmedical Exemption, is willing to provide immunization consultation and sign the Certificate of Nonmedical Exemption.
Medical Exemption
A medical exemption is available for students who have a medical condition that prevents them from receiving one or more school-required vaccines. You are responsible for providing the signed Certificate of Medical Exemption to the school. The certificate of Medical Exemption requires the signature of one of the following health care providers:
Advanced practice nurse (APN)
Physician (Medical Doctor [MD] or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine [DO])
Physician assistant (PA)
A Certificate of Medical Exemption needs to be submitted only once, unless there is a change in the student’s school or personal information.
Certificate of Medical Exemption:
In Process Form
Parents/guardians can use this in-process form to provide proof of a student's in-process vaccination plan. This is an alternative to completing an immunization exemption if the student is actively getting up-to-date with immunizations.