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Attendance Guidelines

ATTENDANCE GUIDELINES FOR STUDENTS

Frequent, vague complaints of not feeling well are common when children are anxious or stressed or even when they realize staying at home brings a little extra attention. However, good attendance is important for student success. The guidelines provided below are not intended to replace proper medical care.  If you feel your student is too ill to go to school, we recommend discussing his/her condition with your doctor.

If you decide to send your child to school when they are not feeling well, please be available so that you may be reached as needed throughout the day. If your student requires medication due to an elevated temperature, recurring diarrhea, or vomiting, please keep the student home.  Every student has a set number of days that can be excused with a parent note to Attendance.   However, this option should only be used when truly needed.  Absences that exceed the limit will require medical documentation to be excused and, in some cases, will require the student to make up the time.

If you are having difficulty deciding when to send a student to school, the guidelines below may help. These guidelines are based on Texas Administrative Code 97.7 (last updated March 27, 2024). 

  • Temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit or greater; please measure temperature BEFORE giving Tylenol, Ibuprofen or any fever-reducing medicine. Once your student has a fever over 100, they MUST be fever-free for 24 hours without  fever-reducing medicine in order to return to school
  • Red or pink eyes WITH matting, crusting, or drainage
  • Chicken Pox – until cleared by doctor, fever-free, and all blisters are crusted and healing 
  • Diarrhea (generally, 3 or more loose stools in the past 24 hours or 2 loose stools this morning)
  • Impetigo – Blisters and drainage must be improving and covered completely with a clean dry bandage before returning
  • COVID/FLU symptoms (fever and/or a combination of other symptoms such as chills, frequent cough, shortness or breath or difficulty breathing, sudden fatigue, muscle or body aches, new loss of taste and/or smell, sore throat, congestion or nasal drainage, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea). For a student who tests POSITIVE for COVID or FLU, please notify your attendance clerk. There is no longer a requirement to isolate for a diagnosis of COVID. For either COVID or FLU, please follow the advice of your doctor if you have seen one. If not, please stay home until FEVER FREE (i.e. temperature is 99.9 or lower) WITHOUT fever-reducing medication such as acetaminophen, ibuprofen, DayQuil, etc.
  • Ringworm if the area cannot be covered OR if the student is unable to refrain from scratching the area. Otherwise, keep home until antifungal medication has been administered and area is showing sign of improvement
  • Viral rash if fever is present, rash that resembles POX, or other unidentified rash; if in doubt, RN will refer to MD or parent must keep home until rash clears
  • Vomiting (generally, 3 or more times in past 24 hours or 2 times this morning)
  • Lethargic or unusually irritable behavior
  • Cough, sneezing, or runny nose that interferes with your student’s ability to read, write, or follow instruction. These symptoms could be attributed to allergies.  If they occur frequently, seek treatment by a medical professional so that the student may attend class regularly with symptom control.

These are the minimum requirements for exclusion from in-person learning. Students may be sent home at the discretion of the campus nurse for other reasons that are not listed here. Parents must carefully consider when to bring students back to class.  Please consult with your campus nurse if you have questions.

Please note: many insurances have TELEMEDICINE choices that make it possible to seek medical help from your home. Please explore options on your insurance website.  If you do not have insurance, additional resources can be found HERE. Parents may also initiate telemedicine visits from home through NISD’s partner, Goodside Health. Please visit their website for more information.

Revised 5/28/25 rb