Sometimes it is hard to tell if your child needs to go to school orstay home. Here are a few tips to help you make the best decision.

• Fever
A temperature, taken orally, that is 100 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, is considered a fever. Children should be fever-free, without fever reducing medication, for at least 24 hoursbefore sending them to school.

• Vomiting
Anytime a child vomits or has diarrhea, he/she needs to be isolated from other children for 24 hours. If your child vomits or has diarrhea in the night, keep him/her home from school the following day.

• Nasal Drainage/Cough
A runny nose by itself is not necessarily cause to keep your childhome. Consider the color of the drainage. Clear drainage is usually associated with allergies or the start of a viral infection. Yellow or green drainage may be a bacterial infection. If the runny nose is associated with a sore throat, nausea or unusual fatigue keep your child home and contact your health care provider if symptoms do not improve within 24-48 hours. Severe coughs should be evaluated by a health care provider to rule out Pertussis or "whooping cough".

Many children suffer from chronic low-grade sinus infections that hang on for months if untreated. Their symptoms include fatigue, sore throat, especially first thing in the morning, headache, and stomachaches.

• Rash
Any rash of unknown cause should be considered contagious. Please have your child examined by a physician to determine the cause and communicability of the rash before sending him/her to school. The child may not return to school unless there is a letter from the medical professional stating that the rash is not communicable in nature, or unless the rash is no longer present.

What if they feel worse at school? 
It is not unusual for students to feel better in the morning and then worse as the day goes along. The school is not equipped for prolonged care of your sick child. We require that you or an emergency contact will pick up your sick child within the hour that you are called. It is important for the school to have a list of local emergency contacts that are available to pick up your child inthe event that we are not able to reach you. Please notify the school if there are changes to your contacts.

Other
Any time your child is not feeling his best, please feel free to call the school nurse at 425.408.7206 to let her know. The nurse cannot give any medications at school such as Tylenol or Ibuprofen unless there is a valid medication authorization on file. For further information, please check out the Northshore School District web site at www.nsd.org, go to "Health & Safety". You will find information on medications, health conditions, and the forms needed if your child needs medication at school.