Your child should be kept home if:

1. he or she has a temperature of 100° or greater
2. he or she is experiencing vomiting or diarrhea

 
If your child has had a fever of 100° or greater, he/she should not return to school until 24 hours after the fever has left and you no longer need to use medication to keep the temperature down.

The same 24-hour guideline applies to vomiting and diarrhea. For example, if your child vomits in the morning at breakfast time, do not send him/her to school in the afternoon, even if there is no vomiting at lunch. Wait until the following breakfast time, with no vomiting or diarrhea during the day or night. If there has been no further vomiting or diarrhea, you can send him/her to school.

If a child is not running a fever, but is obviously not feeling well enough to participate in classroom activities (for example, is very tired, has continual coughing, excessive runny nose, etc.), it is a good idea to keep him/her at home. Your child may need extra sleep, fluids or medication to get rid of these symptoms. Otherwise, he/she is more likely to stay sick longer.

Sending an ill child to school exposes other children to your child's illness. Children easily pass germs through their play and close contact with each other. Please send your child back to school when he/she is fully recovered. Then everyone will have the opportunity to experience the best from his/her school day.

To check a specific illness or disease, visit the Hennepin County Health Department website.

Please call your child's school when your child is staying home due to illness. If your child is not well enough to attend school but well enough to do school work at home, you may request homework according to your school's homework policy.