Per DCFS policy and IDPH guidelines, children and staff who have a fever, are vomiting or have diarrhea any time within 24 hours before a school day are required to stay home. Children and staff who are sent home ill from school are required to stay home for the remainder of the school day PLUS the entire following school day. Children and staff who are sick are required to stay home at a minimum until they are:

1. Fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medicines, diarrhea and vomiting free for 24 hours without the use of medication AND

2. All other symptoms have improved including cough, eye discharge, nasal mucus is clear AND

3. Are well enough to actively participate in the daily activities AND

4. Those experiencing symptoms of Covid-19 including fever, headache, new cough, sore throat, runny nose, shortness of breath, loss of taste or smell, must also have a negative Covid-19 test in order to attend school OR a doctor's note confirming a different diagnosis for their illness. 

To meet the criteria of requirement 2 for improvement of symptoms: children’s cough, sneezing and running noses must not be persistent (occuring once every 3-5 minutes), coughs must be unproductive (not coughing up phlegm), and mucus must be clear. Children with wet or barking coughs, mucus that is yellow or green, and noses requiring wiping/assistance wiping more than once every 5 minutes, discharge from eye or pink eyes, new rashes or lethargy should be kept home and possibly seen by a health care provider. If children arrive at school and are identified as not meeting this requirement, we will contact parents to pick them up from school and begin the exclusion period from school due to illness policy outlined above. 

Families are asked to complete the Illness Reporting Form when a child is absent from school due to an illness or has experienced vomiting or diarrhea within 24 hours of school attendance. Completing the confidential form the first day of symptoms and prior to arrival to school, families will (1) describe the symptoms (2) the date symptoms began (3) results of diagnostic testing or diagnosis from a health professional. The Director and Assistant Director will review the submission, providing return to school guidance within 24 hours of completion. Submitting this form also alerts the school of any potential highly communicable diseases that may be present in the school (see below) which by DCFS policy, may require additional return to school guidance and classroom cleaning/mitigation. If children or staff have been exposed to or diagnosed with a communicable or highly contagious disease listed below they must notify the school via brightwheel messaging as soon as possible so additional classroom mitigation and guidance can begin. It is also recommended that if multiple family members are experiencing illness at home, that if at all possible; PCPS children also remain home to monitor symptoms, reducing likelihood of spreading illnesses. The following illnesses are some of the highly contagious diseases that will require additional communication to families and staff, additional classroom mitigations and authorization to return to school:

COVID-19       Chicken Pox     Conjunctivitis (pink eye)  Fifth Disease     Head Lice

Hand Foot Mouth Disease      Impetigo                             Influenza           Measles            

Mumps          Ringworm          RSV                                    Scarlet Fever    Strep Throat

When notified of a highly contagious disease in our school, the Director will notify families and staff within the classroom and Pilgrim Church leadership of potential exposure, keeping confidentiality for the afflicted child/staff member. Additional information about the disease including symptoms, return to school guidance will also be shared and robust classroom/shared space sanitation will occur. If a child has been out of school for more than three days without communication, teachers will contact their family for information on the child's well-being.