Health Services

School nursing is a specialized practice of professional nursing that advances the well-being, academic success and life-long achievement and health of students.

School nurses facilitate positive student responses to normal development; promote health and safety, including a healthy environment; intervene with actual and potential health problems; provide case management services; and actively collaborate with others to build student and family capacity for adaptation, self-management, self advocacy, and learning. (School Nurse Definition: National Association of School Nurses, 2010)

The school nurse is responsible for health records, hygiene counseling, and general medical conditions. He/she keeps records of students’ health and performs screenings on students (per DSHS) which may include vision, hearing, spinal (for scoliosis), and Acanthosis Nigricans/AN (precursor to Diabetes Type 2). 

The nurse cannot make a diagnosis or write prescriptions.

IMPORTANT NOTICES

Free of Symptoms (Clinic Policy)
It is the goal of Community ISD to provide an environment that is conducive to learning for all students and staff. Some communicable diseases or conditions may warrant exclusion from school to avoid exposing other students. If your student exhibits any of the following symptoms, please keep your student home until the child is free of the symptoms and has been satisfactorily treated.

• Temperature of 100 degrees or above
• Vomiting and/or diarrhea
• Persistent cough
• Rash
• Open, itchy or draining lesions
• Red, itchy, draining eyes
• Presence of live lice or nits in the hair (see below Head Lice/Pediculosis)
• Suffering from a reportable disease, as defined by the Texas Department of State Health Services 
• Undiagnosed scaly patches on the body or scalp

***Your child must be 24 hours free of fever without any fever-reducing medications such as Tylenol/Acetominophen or Advil/Ibuprofen and NOT throwing-up or having diarrhea for 24 hours before they return to school. Antibiotics (if prescribed) must be taken for 24 hours before returning to school. (Guidelines from CDC, Texas Department of State Health Services/Texas DSHS, National Association of School Nurses/NASN, American Academy of Pediatrics/AAP)

Teachers WILL NOT allow the student to call/text their parents from the classroom. Students who become ill, should go to the clinic for evaluation by the school nurse. If your child becomes ill, you or someone designated by you will be contacted to pick up your child. It is imperative that all phone numbers be completed on the enrollment card and be updated immediately should they change during the year.

Communicable Diseases/Conditions

Parents of students with a communicable or contagious disease are asked to telephone the school nurse so that other students who have been exposed to the disease can be alerted. Students with certain diseases are not allowed to attend school while their disease is contagious. These include chicken pox, mumps, measles, ringworm of the scalp, lice, fever, pink eye, fifth disease, and strep throat. 

Emergency Medical Treatment and Information
If a student has a medical emergency at school or a school-related activity when the parent cannot be reached, the school will need to have written parental consent on file in order to obtain emergency medical treatment and to share information about allergies to medications, foods, insect bites, etc. Parents should keep emergency care information up-to-date, including the name of the doctor, emergency phone numbers, allergies, etc.

Head Lice/Pediculosis 

Managing Head Lice in School Settings and at Home

****Notice to Parents**** 

Parents and Guardians of Elementary Students please be advised that you could be receiving more notifications of lice in the classrooms due to Senate Bill 1566 passing into law (see below). Community ISD has NOT experienced an Increase in episodes of lice. Increases in notifications are a direct reflection of the law that has passed. Community ISD will also protect the privacy and confidentiality of its students and will not release the names of students with cases of lice.

During the 2017 Legislative Session, Senate Bill 1566 passed into law and states the following: "The board of trustees of an independent school district shall adopt a policy requiring a school nurse of a public elementary school who determines or otherwise becomes aware that a child enrolled in the school has lice shall provide written or electronic notice of that fact to:

            (1)  the parent of the child with lice as soon as practicable but not later than 48 hours after the administrator or nurse, as applicable, determines or becomes aware of that fact; and

            (2)  the parent of each child assigned to the same classroom as the child with lice not later than the fifth school day after the date on which the administrator or nurse, as applicable, determines or becomes aware of that fact.”

Additional information about confidentiality is included within the law.

Head Lice (Pediculosis) Fact Sheets

Lice Fact Sheets - English

• What Are Lice? (Publication # E05-12864) (Color | B&W) (PDF)
• How Do I Know if My Child Has Lice and How Did They Get It?  (Publication # E05-12865) (Color | B&W) (PDF)
• What Should I Do If My Child Has Lice?  (Publication # E05-12866) (Color | B&W) (PDF)
• How Do I Keep Lice From Coming Back?  (Publication # E05-12867) (Color | B&W) (PDF)
• Misconceptions and Truths about Lice Treatment  (Publication # E05-12868) (Color | B&W) (PDF)
• Lice Resources  (Publication # E05-12869) (Color | BW) (PDF)

Hoja informativa sobre los piojos de la cabeza - En Español

• ¿Qué son los piojos?  (Publication # E05-12864) (Color | B&W) (PDF)
• ¿Cómo sé si mi hijo tiene piojos en la cabeza? Y, de ser así, ¿cómo se le pegaron?  (Publication # E05-12865) (Color | B&W) (PDF)
• ¿Qué debo hacer si creo que mi hijo tiene piojos en la cabeza?  (Publication # E05-12866) (Color | B&W) (PDF)
• ¿Cómo evito que vuelvan los piojos?  (Publication # E05-12867) (Color | B&W) (PDF)
• Mitos, ideas erróneas y verdades sobre el tratamiento de los piojos de la cabeza  (Publication # E05-12868 (Color | B&W) (PDF)
• Recursos sobre los piojos de la cabeza  (Publication # E05-12869) (Color | B/W) (PDF)

Flu Information

• To take care of your child and ensure the health and safety of our school community, it is important to take the following precautions:
  • Children with symptoms of the flu should stay at home. As much as possible, they should be cared for by a single designated caregiver, kept in a separate room in the house and have limited contact with other household members who are not sick. 
  • Your child should not return to school until at least 24 hours after there is no longer a fever (temperature over 100ºF or 38ºC) or signs of a fever (chills, flushing). This should be considered as the first 24 hours a child has been fever-free without the use of fever-reducing medicines such as ibuprofen or Tylenol. Keeping sick students at home is the best way to keep flu from spreading to other students. A doctor’s note is NOT required in order for your child to return to school. 
  • Parents are requested to notify their child's school of the reason for their child’s absence by 10 am on each day of absence.
  • Encourage your child to drink plenty of clear fluids to keep from becoming dehydrated. Do not give any medicines containing aspirin to your child. Monitor the health of your sick child and all other household members closely by checking for fever and other flu symptoms. Testing for flu and treatment with antiviral medications may not be needed for most children over 5 years of age without underlying medical conditions who have mild flu illness. 
  • If your sick child or any well household member is at high risk for more severe disease from influenza, please contact your doctor as soon as possible to ask for advice about antiviral medications. People at higher risk for flu complications include children under the age of 5 years, pregnant women, people of any age who have chronic medical conditions (such as asthma, diabetes, cancer or heart disease), and people age 65 years and older. 
  • Contact a healthcare provider and seek medical care immediately if your child is having difficulty breathing, has altered mental status, or is getting worse.
  • Please remind all household members to wash hands thoroughly with soap and water, or use hand sanitizer regularly. Also continue to remind children to cover their cough with their elbow or sleeve, and to wash their hands before and after touching their face.

For more information about flu, call 1-800-CDC-INFO or visit www.flu.gov. More information on how to take care of a sick child is available at: www.cdc.gov/flu/homecare/index.htm.