Reprinted from the Health District's quarterly publication mailed to district residents (Winter 2007)

When deciding if her children are too sick to go to school, Sandy Brown runs down the checklist of symptoms, asks them probing questions about how they’re feeling and then goes with her gut.

“I think as parents we know our children well enough to know when they shouldn’t be going to school,” says the mother of Kaylee, 11, and Garrett, 8.

Although every family has its own ways of gauging illness, there are some key symptoms to look for, including a high temperature, diarrhea and vomiting.

“Parents should also consider how a child is acting; if they’re unusually tired, pale or irritable,” says Nancy Weber, co-coordinator for Poudre School District’s health services. “Parents need to worry not only about contagion, but also if a child’s illness will distract them from their work and make them uncomfortable in the classroom.”

Infecting other children is a major concern at schools. Most preschools have policies that don’t allow children to come to class until they have been symptom-free for 24 hours, and the school district strongly recommends that parents keep ill children home until they are no longer contagious.

“The problem is that influenza is most communicable about two days before people begin having symptoms,” says Dr. April Gray, who has a family practice in Fort Collins. “So by the time they start feeling sick it’s already too late.”

If parents suspect other highly communicable diseases, such as pink eye, chicken pox and whooping cough, Gray advises erring on the side of caution.

“There can be some serious consequences of making the wrong decision and exposing such an illness to the greater population,” she says.

Surprisingly, students are often the ones behind the push to go to school when they’re not feeling well.

“My daughter is social and she wants to be where the action is,” Brown says. “There’s also the issue of getting behind in her schoolwork—if she misses a day, chances are she’ll miss something important.”

The child’s health should be a primary consideration in the decision of whether or not to skip school. Brown has kept both of her children home this school year on days when they were past the worst of their illness.

“I see their illness being prolonged and decide it would be better to just keep them home for the day so they can rest and finally get better,” she says.