About Us - Illness
Illness
Place of Grace Early Learning Center has developed a specific health policy in order to protect the health and welfare of all of the children and staff in attendance. The included policy is developed based on the recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control, National Health and Safety Performance Standards, Monongalia County Health Department Officer, and West Virginia Department of Health and Human Services. These policies are subject to change based on changes in recommendations, specific outbreaks, or specific health concerns. This policy does not reflect the individual opinions of a single or multiple health care professionals. Ultimately, this policy is at all times at the sole discretion of Place of Grace Early Learning Center.
Children with a fever of above 100° taken by ear thermometer may be excluded. Staff will closely monitor the child for any abnormal behavior and symptoms. Once a child has been excluded due to a fever, they will not be permitted to return until the child has a normal temperature for at least 24 hours without any fever reducing medication such as Tylenol or Ibuprofen. Under no circumstance may a parent administer fever reducing medication to a child in order to suppress a fever to send a child to school. Tylenol and Ibuprofen will only be administered to children with non-contagious medical conditions such as teething or for immunization preparation and follow up. Administration should be notified immediately if the child could have a fever related to immunizations.
In addition, children will be excluded from school any time that the following conditions exist: the illness prevents the child from participating comfortably in activities or the illness results in a greater need for care compromising the health and safety of the other children in the classroom as determined by the provider.
Once a child has been excluded, it is at the discretion of the parent to seek medical attention. The following page includes a list of common conditions that may be diagnosed and the specific criteria for allowing the child to return to school:
Illness | Return Criteria |
| Strep Infection | 24 hours on antibiotic, and 24 hours fever free |
| Conjunctivitis (Pink Eye) | 24 hours on antibiotic |
| Impetigo | 24 hours after treatment, cover area |
| Lice | After treatment and removal of nits |
| Hand, Foot and Mouth | 7 days from start of illness, all blisters scabbed |
| Chicken Pox | 24 hours with no fever, no new pox, and all lesions crusted |
| 5th Disease | Rash with no fever. No exclusion |
| Salmonella | 3 Negative Cultures |
| Vomiting | 24 hours fever free, 24 hours without vomiting |
| Diarrhea | No indication of other illness, no signs of dehydration, 24 hours fever free |
| Ear Infection | 24 hours fever free, 24 hours on antibiotic |
| Bronchitis | 24 hours fever free, 24 hours on antibiotic if prescribed |
| Upper Respiratory Infection | 24 hours fever free, 24 hours on antibiotic if prescribed |
| Unspecified Viral Illness | 24 hours fever free |
| Unspecified Bacterial Illness | 24 hours fever free, 24 hours on antibiotic |
| Urinary Tract Infection | No Exclusion |
| Roseola | 24 hours fever free, may return with rash |
| Pertussis (Whooping Cough) | 5 days on antibiotic |
| Mumps | 9 days after onset of gland swelling |
| Scabies | After Treatment |
Please notify Place of Grace of any medical diagnosis that your child receives. We will notify all families of any illness that appears in multiple children within the center. The following illnesses are also determined by the West Virginia DHHR and the Monongalia County Health Department to be reportable communicable illnesses. These illnesses are of major health concern to the children and staff in this building. All of these illnesses would have a specific exclusion policy to be determined at the time of diagnosis. It is imperative that you notify Place of Grace if your child is diagnosed with any of these illnesses.
*Reportable illnesses include (list comes directly from Child Care Licensing Regulations):
-AIDS (within 30 days) -Amebiasis (Entamoeba histolytica -Anthrax (Bacillus anthracis)-Botulism (Clostridium botulinum) -Brucellosis (Brucella abortus, B. melitensis, B. suis, B. canis) -Campylobacteriosis (Campylobacter jejuni, C. coli) -Chancroid -Chickenpox (Varicella) -Chlamydia trachomatis -Cholera (Vibrio cholerae) -Cryptosporidiosis (Cryptosporidium parvum) -Cyclospora infection -Dengue Fever -Diphtheria (Corynebacterium diphtheriae) -E. coli O 157:H7 disease -Encephalitis, arboviral -Eastern Equine Encephalitis -LaCrosse Encephalitis (California Group) -St. Louis Encephalitis -West Nile Virus - Encephalitis, other primary and unspecified -Food borne Disease -Giardiasis (Giardia lamblia) -Conococcal Disease – Drug-resistant dieseas, Neonatal conjunctivitis, or Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (within 24 hours) -Gonococcal Disease – all other -Haemophilus Influenzae, Invasive Disease -Hantavirus Disease -Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, postdiarrheal -Hepatitis A, acute -Hepatitis B, acute or perinatal-Hepatitis C/other non-A or non-B, acute -Hepatitis Delta -Herpes, Genital -HIV (within 30 days) -Influenza-Like Illness – numerical totals only -Leptospirosis -Listeriosis (Listeria monocytogenes) -Lyme Disease (Borrelia burgdorferi)-Malaria -Meningitis, Other Bacterial – organisms not otherwise listed -Meningitis, Viral or Aspetic -Mumps -Outbreaks, suspect or confirmed_Pertussis (Whooping Cough)(Bordetellapertussis -Plague (Yersinia pestis) -Poliomyelitis -Rabies, human -Rheumatic Fever -Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever -Rubella Congenital Syndrome -Rubella (German Measles) -Rubeola (Measles) -Salmonellosis (except Typhoid Fever – listed separately) -Shigellosis (Shigella dysenteriae.S.boydii, S.flexnen, S.sonnei) -Streptococcus Disease, Group A Invasis and/or Streptococcal Toxic Shock Syndrome (S. pyogenes) -Streptococcus pneumoniae, drug-resistant invasive disease – include antibiotic susceptibility patterns -Syphilis – primary, secondary, early latent, or congenital (within 24 hours) -Syphilis – late latent, late symptomatic, or neurosyphilis -Tetanus (Clostridium tentani) -Trichinosis -Tuberculosis – include antibiotic susceptibility partners -Tularemia (Francisella tularensis) -Waterborne Disease -Yellow Fever -Unexplained or ill-defined illness, condition, or health occurrence of potential public health significance.
Place of Grace will also notify each family of specific exclusion policies that are not covered by the above policy. In instances of flu epidemics or other outbreaks, special exclusion criteria will be distributed at that time.
All children must be properly immunized and parent must provide proof of immunizations. If the parent of a child has chosen not to administer vaccinations to their child or have chosen an alternate administration schedule, the parent must submit a written notice of such. In addition, at any time, if that child is contributing to the spread of a preventable illness, the child would be excluded based on the criteria for that illness.
Children with signs of the common cold (without fever) are able to attend the center.
The wellness policy at Place of Grace is to protect the health of the children and staff. Administration reserves the right to make policy exceptions or change policy based on the benefit of the school community. Habitual or obvious violation of any of the wellness policy could result in termination of the child’s enrollment at Place of Grace.
Medicine Administration
All staff that administer medication shall currently hold a Medication Administration Certificate. Any medication that is to be administered must be presented in the original pharmacy packaging with the child’s name, date, and prescribing information. The parent must also complete the medication administration form to accompany the medication. All over the counter medications must also include the same information. Children are under no circumstances allowed to self administer any medications, with the exception of below. Medications needing refrigeration will be stored in the kitchen refrigerator in an airtight container.
A child may self-administer medications according to Child Care Licensing Regulations under the following conditions/requirements (pg 51, Child Care Licensing Regulations, sections 15.4.h.13.A, B, C and 15.4.h.14):
- Written permission from child’s parent and child’s physician to administer asthma medications, emergency allergy medications, or other ‘similar emergency medications’.
- Written permission from child’s parent and child’s physician to administer insulin or ‘other injected medication.
*When a child self-administers one of the above mentioned medications staff members must log in the date, time, and medication administered. The staff will also note the occurrence in the child’s file and make the parent aware at the end of the day that the medication was self-administered and when.
Only ‘preventative’ ointments can be applied without written statement from child’s physician. The parent needs to fill out a medication form to be placed in the child’s file. ‘Preventative’ ointments include over-the-counter diaper crèmes, sunscreen, and lip balm. These ointments must be administered by the teacher or assistant teacher and charted on the medication form in the classroom and noted in child’s chart. Children may not carry any of the above preventable medication on their person or keep in their cubbie.
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