• Health Reasons to Keep Your Child at Home and Reasons that Children will be Sent Home from School

    The Health Services Department of the El Paso Independent School District has issued these guidelines to help parents ensure that sick children are kept home until well.  This is a district-wide set of guidelines revised June 2017. This is based on Texas Administrative Code. This is not an exhaustive list of reason that a child should not come to school - you know your child best. If you feel that your child is too sick to participate or poses a health risk to others but he/she does not meet one of these specific guidelines, you are still encouraged to keep your child home. 

    ​Fever​: Temperature of 100 or higher. ​​Do NOT give medicine at home to bring down the fever and then send your child to school.​ If the child has a fever, he/she may be contagious and needs to be kept at home.
         *  Your child must be fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medication (like Tylenol or ibuprophen) to return to school.
         * ​If your child runs a fever of 100 or greater at school, a family member will be contacted to pick up the child. The child CANNOT return to school until he/she has been fever free for 24 hours - meaning the child cannot immediately return to school the next day. If the child visits the doctor, please provide a note allowing return to the front office or school nurse.

    Pink Eye (Conjunctivitis): This is very contagious. Everyone at home should wash hands often with soap and water and avoid touching the eyes.
    What to look for:
         * Redness of the "white part of the eye"
         * Yellow, green, or clear drainage from the eye (lashes may be stuck together, crusty, goopey)
         * Itchy or painful eyes
         * Eyelids may be swollen or red
    If your child shows signs of pink eye at school, a family member will be contacted to pick up the child from school. The child must be seen by a doctor and a doctor's note indicating a date to return to school must be issued and provided to the school. 

    Diarrhea: Frequent loose bowel movements (4 or more episodes per day) over the past 24 hours or active diarrhea during school time.
         *If running a fever, student must remain home until fever is gone and bowel movement are "normal" for 24 hours without using diarrhea suppressing medications.
         * Have student drink plenty of fluids and seek medical evaluation for persistent temperature or diarrhea. 

    Bad Cough / Cold Symptoms:  Bad cough / cold symptoms should be seen by a doctor to make sure that the child does not have flu, pneumonia, bronchitis, or other respiratory illness. 
         * If the child has a frequent or bad cough that disrupts his/her breathing ability, disrupts his/her ability to participate in class, or is a frequent disruption to the learning environment, a family member will be contacted to pick up the child.

    Vomiting: Active vomiting prior to school (two or more times within past 24 hours) or any fever and/or diarrhea with vomiting within the past 24 hours should remain at home. 
         * Active vomiting at school will result in a family member being contacted to pick up the child. 

    Sore throat: A minor sore throat is not usually a problem. A severe sore throat may be Strep even if there is no fever. Keep the child home from school and contact a doctor to be cleared to be in school. A doctor’s note indicating date allowed to return should be provided upon return to school.

    Rash: Children with a skin rash, especially when a fever is present, should be seen by a doctor to be cleared to be in school. A doctor's note should be provided upon return. 
       * A parent will be contacted to pick up the child if ring worm or another contagious rash is suspected.