Sick child policy

Sick Child Policy
CHILDREN'S EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES, INC.
FEDERAL TAX ID#: 68-0271743

Introduction:
The majority of parents are quite careful about children's health matters, about following
policies that are more likely to ensure their health, and about sending children to school only
when they are well. However, on the advice of our licensing analyst, we are publishing our Sick
Child Policy in detail so that everyone can be sure of and informed about our policies.
You are asked to read this updated document carefully, sign the signature section, separate it
and return the signature portion only, to Portola Mtn. Montessori, retaining the policy and
information sections for your reference.
Our policies are based on our commitment to help families stay well, both so that children can
attend and derive the most benefit from their Montessori placement and so that the parents
can be at their own schedules consistently.
However, it is also important for the sake of our entire program, so that we can more
accurately protect the other children, as well as our staff, whose good health is directly related
to their ability to maintain their consistent contributions as well.
Illness:
1. Children may only return to school if they have NOT had a fever WITHIN THE 24 HOURS
PREVIOUS TO A SCHOOL MORNING. This means that even if a fever breaks, a child may
not attend until 24 hours have elapsed since the fever breaks. This is standard medical policy
and parents may verify this with their medical advisor. Please see the attached chart.
Since energy levels or fevers alone are not accurate indicators of illness, our staff will advise a
child's parents that a child is not well even when given other factors in the absence of a fever,
such as appearance, energy level, vomiting, etc. A fever simply means that the child's body is
fighting off a microbe invasion. A child can be very contagious and quite sick before a fever
appears. Because our staff is careful, they know they are required by law to be aware of each
child's individual health “picture”, to watch children they suspect of illness and then to advise
parents of their judgment.
2. If, in the judgment of a staff member, a child is deemed ill, parents must call for the child
within a reasonable amount of time. This is important, both to safeguard the ill child, and to
safeguard other children and staff from being exposed to an illness unnecessarily. Parents
who directly or indirectly refuse to cooperate with this policy, will put their child's placement at
risk. We cannot operate as a sick center, since we do not have a registered nurse who is
always on duty. Therefore, we cannot maintain a sick child for anytime other than the time
needed for the parents to arrive. Sick children will wait for parents away from other children
and teaching staff; they will be observed for changing or additional symptoms during the
waiting period.
3. In the event that an adult cannot be reached reasonably, and in the event that a child
becomes what appears lo be very seriously ill, staff will transport the child to the nearest
emergency medical facility for care by the emergency medical facility emergency room staff.
Parents will be advised as soon as soon as they can breached.
4. DO NOT SEND CHILDREN TO SCHOOL WITH A NEW ILLNESS OR COUGH,
Since this is the time when the diseases are most contagious. Please be advised that children
are still contagious even after the onset of an illness, though exact parameters will vary. This
means that children SHOULD NOT be sent to school for staff to observe their health condition,
as that is parents' responsibility. While some children show long-term signs of upper
respiratory problems, and these can often be associated with allergies, and if such long-term
symptoms are observed, parents will be asked to provide a medical explanation from an
authorized health advisor that a child is free from contagious disease BEFORE a child will be
able to continue to attend school.
5. Do not send children to school who are being treated with AUGMENTIN, as this drug
creates explosive diarrhea symptoms, which cannot be managed readily in a school setting.
6. If your child has vomited and/or had diarrhea do not send your child to school until it has
ceased for a period of 24 hours.
7. Do not send children to school who display a greenish discharge, as this is an indication of
an active infection in the child's head-neck system. Consult a medical advisor and return the
child to school when the discharge is clear for 24 hours consistently.
Hand washing:
1. Hand washing is one of the surest ways to avoid illnesses, even when children engage in
group activity away from the family. We know it sounds silly or even as if we are over- doing it,
to have to write this direction to parents, but we have the backing of a major research study
which indicates adults report washing their hands 60% more often than they actually do.
2. So we are reminding you to teach your child a very handy (!) lifelong lesson: please teach
your child to wash hands when coming home from an activity, when coming in from yard-play,
when finishing using the toilet (some tell us they didn't touch anything and so therefore do not
have to wash, but we tell them it's important to ALWAYS wash hands when leaving ANY
bathroom), AND before they eat-even snacks. You can carry wet-wipes away from home
easily to do this sort of hand-washing.
3. We know that anti-bacterial soaps may be TOO powerful, according to recent research, so
we suggest ordinary soap. Teach your child to bubble-up their palms, the backs of their palms,
and then to “PUSH OFF” the germs from the tops of their fingers to the tips of their fingers-and
push those germs down the drain!
4. At home, you can conveniently teach them to use nail brushes to get grime, pin-worm eggs,
etc.
5. Teach your children to wash their hands immediately after “catching” their coughs, sneezes,
throat-clearing, etc. The sputum that they catch carries germs to other children and family
members when their hands go unwashed. Please DO NOT use the out-dated “Cough-into-the-
Sleeve” technique. Then they carry the germs and mucous around all day for others to touch
or rub against.
6. WE ARE NOW ASKING CHILDREN TO WASH THEIR HANDS WHEN THEY ARRIVE AT
SCHOOL, AND WHEN THEY REENTER THE CLASSROOM FROM THE YARD. PLEASE
HELP US BY DOING SIMILARLY AT HOME, TO KEEP OUTSIDE GERMS AT BAY.
Oral HeaIth:
1. Children's oral-nasal development is compromised by pacifier use beyond age 12 months or
bottle use beyond that point, and even by demand-sippee cup use, according to our dental
consult, pediatric dentist Dr. Derry Hildebrand of Portola. Such children DO NOT develop
integrated muscle movements as readily because pacifier and sippee cup use, AS WELL AS
BOTTLE USE, encourage merely the frontal development of the teeth, the dental arch, the
tongue, rather than the proper development of the back and sides of the oral region, including
proper swallowing. Integrated muscle-use promotes proper swallowing and proper chewing, as
well as more appropriate speech patterns, which further promotes integrated muscle use--it
goes full circle! Furthermore, speech develops more smoothly and children are more at ease
with using speech to relate to others rather than to use it only to demand something from
adults or complain when something seems to be too difficult.
If you and your child are stuck in this circle of bottle-pacifier-sippee cup use, we will help you
help your child to transition out of their use. Once your child is helped to celebrate the
transition, they are actually more confident and actually have more resources to use to learn
about and relate to the world.
Furthermore, children's oral health is directly related to their pulmonary health: healthy mouths
mean healthy lungs, and thus fewer illnesses because of more lung capacity, greater strength
and endurance, and more lively participation in school, sports, dance, music, and so on.
Nutrition:
It's very curious, but some parents resist providing their children with wholesome foods!
Processed foods are threatening children's health, even into adulthood. Empty calorie foods
are the equivalent to feeding a child ground-up cardboard--while no one would admit to such a
thing, providing junk food does exactly that! Too tempting, that's why. Parents give in to
children's whining over foods, and even allow children to make food choices for the family's
meals or their school lunches--we think, except for birthday dinners and so on, parents might
wisely wait until they are old enough to write the check at the grocery check-out counter! It’s
never too late to teach yourself and your child to eat well--to enjoy green light foods!
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