When to Keep Your Student Home From School

Please keep your child home from school if any of these conditions exist:

• Temperature above 100 degrees F
• Vomiting or diarrhea
• Eye redness and/or drainage
• Undiagnosed rash anywhere on the body
• Severe sore throat or headache
• Persistent untreated cough
• Head lice that has not been treated

Schools are required to exclude students with certain illnesses from school for periods of time as identified in state rules.

For example, if your child has a fever over 100 degrees, he or she must stay out of school until fever free for 24 hours without fever-reducing medications. Students who have had diarrhea (3 or more episodes of loose stool in 24 hrs) must be diarrhea free (without the use of medication) for 24 hours before returning to school. 

Students with bacterial pink-eye must be treated with antibiotics for 24 hours before returning to school. Consult with your physician for information about how long to keep students home from school for other illnesses.

If your child is diagnosed with a communicable illness such as flu, strep throat, pink-eye, chicken pox, any reportable illness, or any vaccine-preventable illness, please let your school nurse know.

Please see the Texas Health Department's updated Communicable Disease Chart for questions related to when your student can return to school based on diagnosis (COVID, Influenza, Pink Eye, etc).   

Texas Health and Human Services Communicable Disease Chart