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Illness / Injury
The East Penn School District has established the following guidelines for sickness. If a student becomes ill, he/she should stay home until fully recovered. Please do not send your child to school if any of the following symptoms are present:
- Temperature of 100.4 degrees or higher
- Vomiting: The student should be able to eat without vomiting for a minimum of 24 hours before returning to school.
- Diarrhea
- Severe coughing
- Suspicious skin rash
- Influenza-like Illness: Any student exhibiting signs and symptoms of influenza or COVID will be sent home from school. This includes T>100.4°F, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills, fatigue
Return to School after Illness/Injury
- A doctor’s release is required before a student returns to school in cases of prolonged absence due to injury or illness. Please consult with your child’s school nurse before your child returns to school after a prolonged illness or injury that has required medical care.
- Keep your child home until his or her fever is below 100.4 degree F for 24 hours without use of fever reducing medication. Returning to school too soon may slow the recovery process and expose others unnecessarily to contagious illness.
- Complex situations will be assessed on a case-by-case basis in conjunction with the parent, school administrator, school nurse, student’s health care provider, and the chief school physician.
Return to School after Communicable Disease
No child, absent or excluded from school by reason of one of the diseases listed below, shall return to school before the specified time has expired.
- Chicken Pox/Shingles – 5 days from appearance of first crop of vesicles or when lesions are dry and crusted over. (Shingles- exclude only if rash is weeping and cannot be covered)
- Conjunctivitis (pink eye) 24 hours after initiation of treatment
- COVID-19 – per current PA DOH recommendations; please consult your School Nurse for current protocol
- German Measles 7 days after onset of rash
- Hand-Foot-Mouth disease one week after onset of illness, until fever free, oral ulcers healed, lesions are dry
- Measles – 5 days from onset of rash
- Mumps – 5 days after onset of swelling
- Norovirus No vomiting/diarrhea for 48 hours
- Pertussis – After 5 days of appropriate antibiotic therapy
- Scarlet Fever – 7 days from onset or 24 hours after initiation of appropriate antibiotics
- Strep Throat – 24 hours after initiation of appropriate antibiotics