Health & Wellness Department

"School nursing is a specialized practice of nursing that protects and promotes student health, facilitates optimal development, and advances academic success. School nurses, grounded in ethical and evidenced-based practice, are the leaders who bridge health care and education, provide care coordination, advocate for quality student-centered care, and collaborate to design systems that allow individuals and communities to develop their full potential," (NASN, 2017a). 

Health Guidelines for School Attendance

A healthy school community requires parents/ guardians and schools to partner with each other in an effort to prevent and control contagious diseases. Keeping a sick child at home protects other children and school staff from contracting a possible communicable illness. The following guidelines are intended to assist in the decision-making process of when to send a child to school or when to keep them home. These guidelines are not meant to take the place of medical evaluation or advice, and they do not address every illness.  Manor ISD Health and Wellness Department follows the exclusion criteria from the Texas Health and Human Services. 

In order to control communicable diseases in school, your child should be kept home and/or will be sent home for the following reasons:

• COVID-19: If positive for COVID-19, for at least 24 hours, your symptoms are getting better overall and you have not had a fever (and are not using fever-reducing medication), you are typically less contagious, but it still takes more time for your body to fully get rid of the virus. During this time, you may still be able to spread the virus to others. Using precautions for the next 5 days can help reduce this risk. If there are no symptoms, the scholar may return to school, and the scholar must wear a mask until they test negative for three days.
• FEVER: If a temperature of 100 degrees or more, keep the scholar home until fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever suppressing medications like acetaminophen and ibuprofen 
• FLU LIKE SYMPTOMS: If symptomatic of cough, congestion, sore throat, severe headache, or body aches, keep the scholar home and follow up with a healthcare provider for guidance
• DIARRHEA: If there are three or more episodes of loose stools in a 24-hour period, keep the scholar home until diarrhea free for 24 hours without the use of diarrhea-suppressing medications
• VOMITING (unrelated to anxiety): If two or more episodes in a 24-hour period, keep the scholar at home until vomiting has subsided 
• RASH: If the scholar has an undiagnosed rash or skin condition that is accompanied by itching or fever, they should be referred to a healthcare provider to confirm that it is not contagious
• EYES: If the eye is red with discharge (mucus, pus), keep the scholar at home and follow up with a healthcare provider for guidance. The scholar may return with a doctor's note or when symptom free.
• OTHER: If the child’s symptoms will  keep them from participating in the school setting in a meaningful way, monitor the scholar at home and contact your healthcare provider. 

If you take your child to a healthcare provider for an evaluation, please request a note with a recommendation on when to return to school and/or any accommodations.

School health clinics are not able to provide crutches or wheelchairs or any other adaptive equipment for use at school. Please contact the provider who has recommended the use of these products. Parents/ guardians should submit a doctor's note for temporary use of crutches or wheelchairs at school to include the anticipated length of time the scholar will need the device.

For questions or concerns, please contact the campus nurse.