General Communicable Diseases Procedures
Students with a communicable disease will be allowed to attend school as long as they are physically able to perform the tasks assigned to them and as long as their attendance does not create a substantial risk of transmission of the illness or other harm to the students or the employees. The term “communicable disease” shall mean an infectious or contagious disease spread from person or animal to person or as defined by law.
A student will be excluded from school when the student’s condition has been determined to be injurious to the health of others or when the student is too ill to attend school. The health risk to an immuno-depressed student attending school shall be determined by their personal physician. The health risk to others in the school environment from the presence of a student with a communicable disease shall be determined on a case by case basis by the superintendent working with advice of public health officials.
Since there may be greater risks of transmission of a communicable disease for some persons with certain conditions than for other persons infected with the same disease, these special conditions, the risk of transmission of the disease, the effect upon the educational program the effect upon the student and other factors deemed relevant by public officials or the superintendent shall be considered in assessing the student’s continued attendance at school. The superintendent may require medical evidence that students with a communicable disease are able to attend school.
Prevention and control of communicable diseases is included in the school district’s bloodborne pathogens exposure control plan. The procedures will include scope and application, definitions, exposure control, methods of compliance, universal precautions, vaccination, post-exposure evaluation, follow-up, communication of hazards to employees and record keeping. This plan is reviewed annually by the superintendent and school nurse.
A student who is at school and who has a communicable disease which may create a substantial risk of harm to other students, employees, or others at school shall report the condition to the superintendent any time the student is aware that the disease actively creates such risk. It shall be the responsibility of the superintendent or school nurse when the superintendent or school nurse has knowledge that a communicable disease is present, to notify the State Department of Health. Rumor and hearsay shall be insufficient evidence for the superintendent to act.
Health data of a student is confidential, and it shall not be disseminated. The superintendent may request that the Iowa Department of Health provide a review of the case and recommend regarding the permissibility of continued attendance of the student in the regular classroom, with or without restrictions. If the student is to be excluded from school, it is the responsibility of the superintendent, in conjunction with the parents, to make arrangements for the student’s alternate educational program.
The Board realizes it is important for others to know which students in the district have a communicable disease. However, this must be weighed against the privacy and confidentiality rights of the student. Health data is regarded as private data, and it is not to be disseminated to the public, to students, or to employees without strict observance of data privacy rights. Knowledge of a communicable disease will be limited to the Board, superintendent, school nurse, and whomever else the superintendent determines has a need to know in order to properly and safely discharge their duties.
Bloodborne Pathogens Precautions
With or without the known presence of communicable disease, prudent precautions should become routine. Blood or any other body fluids, including vomit and fecal or urinary incontinence, in ANY child should be treated appropriately.
It is recommended that gloves be used when cleaning up any body fluids. Spills should be cleaned and the effected area washed with soap and water and disinfected with bleach (one part bleach to ten parts water) or other disinfectant and the mop or other cleaning material should be treated with the same bleach or disinfectant. All disposable materials including gloves and diapers, should be discarded into a plastic bag before placing in a conventional trash system. Hypodermic needles require special disposal procedures. Toys and other personal non-disposable items should be cleaned with soap and water and disinfected before passing to another person. A normal laundry cycle is adequate for other non-disposable items. All persons involved in the clean-up should wash their hands thoroughly afterward.
School personnel shall have the responsibility to periodically monitor and check students for head lice.
(April 6, 1981; April 17, 1989; June 15, 1992; May 17, 1999; March 21, 2011; January 19, 2015; August 19, 2019)