Pre-School Exclusion Policy

[aetienn6]

I work at a school for autistic children that educates grades prek-12. I have a general exclusion policy that applies to the entire school however I am wondering if I should take extra measure for the pre-school children. I am specifically referring to common cold symptoms. Generally I send a student home if they appear to not be feeling well (lethargy, constant coughing or sneezing etc.) or have a fever above 100 or combination of elevated temp and behavior/appetite change. I have not been sending students home simply because they have a cough, or a runny nose, or are sneezing however I am getting the vibe from one pre-school teacher in particular that this is exactly what she wants me to do. Her class basically has been sick all year, various students at different times and the staff in that room multiple times. I am trying to figure out should be sending the pre-school kids home or do I need to have a talk with the staff about the spreading of germs?

[SassyTachyRN]

I will tell you.. I have two schools.. One contains preschool. Prek teachers want to send home every sick kid with a cough or sniffles or who doesn't "look well" or "act right." Prek teachers are their own special breed. Stand your ground on the policies you already have. Fevers should go home as well as diarrhea, vomiting, constant cough that is disturbing, communicable disease until cleared by md for return, undiagnosed rash, that kind of stuff.

[amnesiac1c]

I follow the same exclusion guidelines for all my early childhood kids as I do my elementary kids. The first year EC moved to our campus there were a couple of teachers who did not like that at all but they adjusted.

[aetienn6]

Thanks for your comments, I feel much better about it all now.

[aetienn6]

These teachers are something else.

[aetienn6]

I will tell you.. I have two schools.. One contains preschool. Prek teachers want to send home every sick kid with a cough or sniffles or who doesn't "look well" or "act right." Prek teachers are their own special breed. Stand your ground on the policies you already have. Fevers should go home as well as diarrhea, vomiting, constant cough that is disturbing, communicable disease until cleared by md for return, undiagnosed rash, that kind of stuff.

Yes! That is EXACTLY how they act and then I have two assistants constantly complaining that they are getting sick as if implying they are getting sick because I am letting the kids stay. Either way I completely agree with you fevers, diarrhea, vomiting, constant/severe cough, undiagnosed rash, etc. they go home. But just because snot is coming out of a kids nose or they are sneezing does not mean I need to send them out.

[fetch, BSN, RN]

I will admit, there are times when I send a PreK home even though I wouldn't send home a 5th grader for the same things. But a PreK also has the potential to be a huge distraction to other students when feeling ill - wailing and temper tantrums - while most 5th graders will just be annoying.

I have one PreK teacher this year who likes to send kids for a temp check because "they just don't look right" -- at 15 minutes til we go home!! Too late, lady, send 'em earlier if you are worried!

[aetienn6]

Yeah I work in a school for children with autism so wailing and tantrums are already daily things regardless of whether illness is present or not. I get the "they just don't look right" all the time for temperature checks. Sometimes though, I do appreciate this because it is not like these students (most of them) can tell you they aren't feeling well or that they need to see the nurse.

[rbytsdy]

I had 3 preschools in my school - autistic, disabled and mainstream. The mainstream preschool is actually run by an out of district school. I seldom get kids from the autistic and disabled classrooms but those teachers are veterans. The mainstream preschool sends me 2-3 kids a day who "don't look right" or "aren't acting like themselves." Since that school is out of district, they don't get counted in the 500 kids I already have responsibility for in district. I am basically providing them a free service.

I might actually tell the teacher in that case she is free to send a note home asking parents not to sent sick kids in! But our guidelines allow them to stay.

[aetienn6]

Hmm I like that approach, thanks rbytsdy