LAUREL SCHOOLS General Health Policy - UPDATED - December 2023

When Should My Child Stay at Home?

When your child becomes symptomatic at home: 

Any change in your child's demeanor or physical condition, even a slight sniffle or tired smile may signal an oncoming illness and we ask that you keep your child home and notify us through Procare of the timing and symptoms. In the case of most viruses, including COVID, people become contagious before the onset of obvious symptoms. 


Children who are not physically well will not thrive in their classrooms and most often become the source for community spread of contagious viruses. Following is a list of the most common symptoms:

  • Runny nose

  • Congested

  • Persistent sneezing or coughing

  • Vomiting

  • Diarrhea; 3 or more watery stools in 24 hours

  • Mucus draining from the eye(s)

  • Swollen glands

  • Unusually tired, pale, lack of appetite, confused or cranky

  • Communicable diseases (meaning contagious illnesses). Some examples of common communicable diseases include pink eye, FLU, whooping cough, strep throat, hand, foot and mouth disease, lice or nits, body rash, etc.

  • A fever of 99° F

Please use the following Symptoms Flowchart to determine next steps when keeping your child home, including communication to the school as soon as possible. Some viruses such as COVID and Hand/Foot and Mouth require an instant response to keep the rest of the children safe, sometimes by calling a classroom closure.

When your child becomes symptomatic at school:

Parents will be called to pick up a child who develops symptoms of an illness. Parents are expected to arrive for the child within 1 hour of being notified. This is not optional as the health and well-being of every child is paramount. If we cannot reach you within 30 minutes, we will begin calling your emergency contacts to arrange a pickup.

If your child becomes symptomatic while at school and they are subsequently sent home with a Sick Note, they may return only if ALL of the following requirements are met.

  • There are no symptoms - without the use of suppressants OR symptoms have significantly improved

  • It has been a minimum of 24 hours

  • Negative Covid test has been submitted to administrators

Exposure notification: You will receive exposure notifications via Procare. Parents choose to send their child to school. If symptoms begin manifesting, send us a message and upload a time-stamped test result to Procare. Here is how.
Please note: We follow a combination of DCYF requirements, WA DOH and CDC guidelines, all of which are subject to change.