Is this normal? RE: Calling out of school when DC is sick.

shopgirl78

I didn't send DD to school today.  DS2 and DS1 have been sick with fevers and coughing.  DD was coughing all night and had a slight fever this morning (99).  She acted really sluggish this AM and I thought it might peak like the boys at 102.  I decided not to send her.  

I called the school this morning and stated "DD will not be at school today, she is in KG and Ms. XXX's class."  They proceeded to ask me about her symptoms and fever.  WTF?  Is that normal?  I was caught of guard.  

FWIW, her fever hasn't peaked like theirs did.  She has perked up a bit too but still coughing like crazy.  She had a sight word "quiz" today.  I didn't think she'd do well on it, feeling bad and all.   

docmay25

I usually just leave a voicemail on the nurse's line, so never encountered anything like this.  I would say that they were asking her symptoms just to be sure that she didn't have something contagious like strep?

PinkPiano

My dd's school does that too, I also thought it was weird at first.  I think they mainly want to know in case it's something contagious that would cause concern for other students. 

goodheartedmommy

It could be that they want to know what's going on in case there are similar cases. I don't know how it works in public school, but I know when I taught pre-school, we were required to post if there were so many cases of something, or even one case of certain viruses.

j-w

My school requests symptoms too because I think they need to report to the cdc.

ETA: I mention the cdc because that is what was mentioned in a letter at the beginning of the school year.

jlw2505

I know daycare typically wants to know if its something that could have been passed onto the other kids or if they need to post a note about, my older DD's PreK class is the same way.  The few times my kids have been sick and missed school, I have always told them why when I call or email.

femmegem

PinkPiano:

My dd's school does that too, I also thought it was weird at first.  I think they mainly want to know in case it's something contagious that would cause concern for other students. 

This. The teachers at DS's school always post a note on the board if there's something going around we should know about.

MamiH

My oldest is also in K and has had the fever for 3 days now.  We have a voicemail system and have to specify if they have a fever over 100 with a cough OR a fever over 100 with a sore throat.  My DD just had the fever, so I specified. 

They want to keep track of what infection is going around in which class.  We've gotten several strep notices this year.

littlemermaid

Yes, very normal and much needed.  When I call my kids out sick I have to leave the reason on the voicemail.   They need to know how serious it is.  If it's something that could spread.  For example, if a preschooler comes down with lice they are going to want to make sure all stuff animals and dress up clothes  in the classroom are bagged to kill any of the eggs. that might be on them.  I think they need to report cases of chicken pox or anything that is highly contagious. 

MaddysMama07

When one of my preschoolers calls in sick we try and ask what's going on. We have illness policies and if we know they have a fever that day then we also know they can't come the next day. We also want to know if it's something contagious so we can keep an eye on the other kids as well.