Screening the Health of Learners at Home Before Going to School
The following guidelines have been provided by the Texas Education Agency.
• It is important to remember that schools are required to exclude learners with certain illness from school for periods of time according to state rules. Please do not send your child to school if they have a fever (measured temperature of 100°F) or higher, diarrhea, or symptoms of a contagious illness.
• Parents must ensure they do not send a child to school if the child has COVID-19 symptoms or is lab-confirmed with COVID-19. Learners will receive remote instruction until the below conditions for re-entry are met.
• Learners will receive remote instruction if they had close contact with an individual who is lab-confirmed with COVID-19 until the 14-day incubation period has passed.
Learners or parents are required to report to their school nurse, BEFORE arriving at school, if:
• they had close contact with an individual who has tested COVID-19 positive, or
• if they themselves have any symptoms of COVID-19.
Please watch for COVID-19 symptoms. People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported – ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. People with these symptoms may have COVID-19:
- Fever (measured temperature of 100°F or higher)
- Cough
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- New loss of taste or smell
- Sore throat
- Congestion or runny nose
- Feeling feverish (chills, shaking, complains of having a fever)
- Muscle or body aches
- Headache
- Nausea or vomiting
- Diarrhea
IF YOUR CHILD HAS ANY OF THE SYMPTOMS LISTED ABOVE, PLEASE KEEP YOUR CHILD AT HOME AND CONTACT YOUR SCHOOL NURSE FOR EXCLUSION AND READMISSION CRITERIA.
Individual Confirmed or Suspected with COVID-19
In the case of an individual who was diagnosed with COVID-19, such individual may return to school when all three of the following criteria are met:
- At least three days (72 hours) have passed since recovery (resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications).
- The individual has improvement in symptoms (example: cough, shortness of breath).
- At least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared.
In the case of an individual who has symptoms that could be COVID-19 related and who has not been evaluated by a medical professional or tested for COVID-19, the individual is assumed to have COVID-19, and the individual may not return to campus until the individual has met the listed three criteria above.
More information on our RISD website.
