Do I Need to Keep My Child Home Today? Sometimes it's a hard decision to make, should you keep your child home, or is it okay for them to go to school and see how they feel later.  Here are some guidelines that I hope will help you to decide what is best for your child and other students/staff at school.  If your child has any of the following, they need to stay home until they are free of symptoms or on medications for 24 hours:                 FEVER Temperature of 100 or above, your child needs to have a temperature below 100 degrees for at least 24 hours before returning to school.  Most people (kids included) have a temperature in the 97's during the early morning hours.  If the temperature is over 98.6 first thing in the morning, most often it will be over 100 in the afternoon.  If you have given fever reducing medication such as Tylenol or Advil and then the fever went away, that doesn't mean that they are no longer sick/contagious, but that the fever may just be down because of the medication and often returns in the afternoon.         Vomiting and diarrhea may indicate illness and often makes the child uncomfortable and unable to participate at school.                                          Conjunctivitis (pink eye) is fairly common in children. If your child has drainage from the eye or crustiness on their eyelashes, they need to be seen by a doctor. They may return to school when treatment has begun.         Strep throat If your child has a red throat, complains of headache or body aches and has not had a runny nose (post nasal drip), they may have a strep infection.  If your child is put on an antibiotic for strep, they need to be on it for 24 hours before returning to school.           Head lice is also fairly common among school children. Though it does not cause illness, is unpleasant and if your child has it, they need to have the head treated with lice shampoo and most of the nits (eggs) removed before coming to school.           Impetigo is a sore usually found around the mouth or nose area.  It is identified by a yellow crusting scab.  It is highly contagious and childnren must be on antibiotic medications and have covered with bandaid to return to school.         If you have any questions about whether your child should come to school, please feel free to call me. Donna Kulle, R.N.    Clinic phone:940-497-8458, Fax Number:940- 497-2807, school number: 940-497-2222