School District of Somerset

Health Reminder

Dear Spartan Families,

As we continue through the colder months, we are still seeing a variety of confirmed communicable disease cases. Please keep the following the mind:

• If your child has a fever of 100? or more, per district policy they need to remain home until they have been fever free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medications (Tylenol, Ibuprofen, etc.)
• If your child has a positive Strep test, per district policy they are to remain out of school for 24 hours after initiation of appropriate antibiotics and fever has been resolved. 

If your child does have a confirmed communicable disease please notify the building health office or Kayla Mikla, District Nurse so we can work together on a plan for when your child would be able to return to school. Thank you for helping keep our students healthy! 

Warmly,

Kayla Mikla, RN, District Nurse
Codie Watson, ES Health Office Provider

Immunization Information

There have been some changes to school immunization requirements that we want to make sure you are aware of. Per Wisconsin Department of Health Services (WI DHS) the following changes have been made that will take effect for the 2023-2024 school year and subsequent years:

• Tdap (Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Acellular Pertussis Vaccine) was previously required before the start of sixth grade. This has now changed to the start of seventh grade. This change is to better align with the recommended age (age 11) at which children should receive the vaccine.

The minimum required immunizations for each age and grade level according to the Wisconsin Student Immunization Law can be viewed HERE. These requirements can be waived for health, religious, or personal conviction reasons. Please fill out the Student Immunization Record Form if you would like to waive any immunizations and/or provide dates of immunizations. Copies of immunization records are also accepted.

Please be advised parents/guardians are responsible for giving the health office copies of updated immunization records when new required immunizations are administered.

If you have any questions or concerns, or are wondering if your student is up to date on their immunizations please feel free to contact me.

Kayla Mikla, RN
District Nurse

NEWS FROM THE HEALTH OFFICE

We believe that timely and routine monitoring of student absences can help to paint a more complete picture of disease transmission in the community, and ultimately help us to prevent the spread of communicable diseases.

Certain symptoms may suggest the presence of a communicable disease. To help prevent the spread of disease, it is important to keep a child who is ill home from school.  Children with the symptoms listed below should stay home until symptoms improve and/or a physician approves a return to the classroom:

• Fever of  100° F or more Stay out of school until fever has returned to normal for 24 hours
• Diarrhea Until diarrhea stops or until a medical exam indicates that it is not due to a communicable disease. Diarrhea is defined as an increased number of stools compared with a person's normal pattern, along with decreased stool form and/or watery, bloody, or mucus-containing stools
• Vomiting Until vomiting stops. Vomiting is defined as two or more episodes within 24 hours after the last episode.

When you call to let the school know your child is ill, feel free to tell us about the illness. We want to know why kids are home sick, so we can help prevent the spread of disease and keep children healthy and ready to learn.