Illness and School Exclusion Guidelines
COVID-19 and Maintaining a Healthy School Environment
KCKPS remains committed to doing everything we can to protect the health of our students and staff. Our goal is to restore and maintain in-person learning for all students while adhering to public health recommendations to protect the health of our students, staff, and community.
KCKPS continues to work closely with the Unified Government Public Health Department (UGPHD) and follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). Health and safety guidelines will continue to be updated as new information and guidance becomes available.
Many safety protocols are in place to limit exposure and transmission of COVID-19 in our schools. Families can help maintain a healthy school environment in the following ways:
- Students should remain home if they are sick or if they have been exposed to someone who may have COVID-19.
- Parents are encouraged to check their child’s temperature before they leave home. Children with a temperature of 100.0° F or greater should remain home until they are fever-free without the use of fever-reducing medications (Tylenol, Motrin, or generic equivalent) and symptom-free for 48 hours. Students with a temperature greater than 100.0°F may be sent home if they have other symptoms of illness.
- If your child is sick and you aren’t sure if it’s allergies or a virus, you should keep him or her home. Since the symptoms are similar with both, making sure your child does not spread a virus around school is the right thing to do.
- If your child becomes sick at home, please notify the school nurse or attendance secretary of the reason for their absence. This will help the school nurse monitor for an increase in illness among students.
- Update their contact information and designate an emergency contact in case a child becomes ill while at school. Due to the pandemic, sick children must be picked up within 45 minutes of being identified as being ill to avoid exposing others. Parents should have a back-up plan if they cannot pick up their child within 45 minutes.
- Students should be up-to-date on their immunization schedules and influenza vaccinations to prevent outbreaks of preventable contagious disease. Students who wish to attend in-person learning but have not met the state requirements for school attendance, at the discretion of the Superintendent, may be subject to exclusion.
- If your student is absent three or more days due to illness, the school can request a health care provider's note to return to school.
There are several symptoms and conditions that would require a child to remain home from school, which can be found in the Parent Handbook. Children exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 without other obvious explanations are prohibited from coming to school, and will be sent home immediately. The current known symptoms are:
- Fever
- Chills or shaking
- Muscle or body aches
- Fatigue or extreme tiredness
- Headache
- Sore throat
- Runny or stuffy nose
- Cough
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- New loss of taste or smell
- Diarrhea, abdominal pain, or vomiting
- In children, poor appetite or poor feeding, especially in babies under 1 year old
Illness and School Exclusion Guidelines
If your child becomes ill at school, the school nurse can administer a free rapid COVID-19 test with parent consent. These are the same test kits available through the Health Department.
Tests are also FREE at the Wyandotte County testing sites.
Testing sites are open Monday through Friday, but occasionally are closed on Monday if there is a Saturday clinic. Check the WyCo Health Dept COVID-19 Hub for the most accurate info.
- If the test is negative, they can return when they are free of all symptoms for 48 hours or 2 days, without fever-reducing medications such as Tylenol or Ibuprofen.
- Absences will be excused. A school nurse will contact you to let you know what date they may return.
- Per Kansas City Kansas Public school guidelines, if your child is positive or you do not get them tested, they must stay home for days 0-5 from the first day of symptoms or positive test results and can return to school days 6-10 with a mask.
- Their absence will be excused during this period of time. A school nurse will contact you to let you know what date they may return.
We want to remind you that you can find all safety protocols in place to limit exposure and transmission of COVID-19 in the Parent and Student Handbook. If you have additional questions please reach out to us.