Hillsboro School District > Parents > Resources

Health Alert

Flu season is coming to Oregon - it's not too late to get vaccinated! Read the District article here and a letter from the Washington County Heatlh Department on influenza and norovirus here; and for links to flu resources and prevention tips, click the Resources tab. Immunization Exclusion Day is February 20, 2013. To see the list of immunizations your child needs, click the Oregon Immunization and Dosages Flyer under the Resources tab.

Overview
Resources

Our goal is to provide a safe and healthy environment for your child. Staff is available at every school to assist students with health needs and dispense medication as needed per doctor’s prescription and parent instructions. Your school can provide you with their health and medication procedures.

Please call your school’s attendance line as soon as possible if your student will need to stay home from school due to illness or miss part of the day for an appointment. This ensures their nonattendance is recorded as an excused absence.

Immunizations
Oregon state law requires that students have received appropriate vaccinations for school entry. To view the State of Oregon’s complete list of Immunization and Dosage Requirements, click here.

Kindergartners and other students new to the District will not be allowed to start school without the required immunizations.

School administrators are required to exclude from school those students not having proof of at least one dose of each of the above-noted immunizations. The only exceptions are those children who have health problems that would prevent them from receiving the inoculations and those whose religious teachings oppose immunizations.

Immunization Exclusion Day - annual date designated by the State Health Department - when students without complete immunizations or exemptions are sent home and not allowed to return to school until the requirements are completed.

For the 2012-13 school year, exclusion day is Wednesday, February 20, 2013.

Getting Immunizations
Immunizations may be obtained from your medical provider. Also, the Washington County Health & Human Services (HHS) Department operates several clinics that offer a variety of services, including immunizations. Please visit the Washington County HHS web site or contact them at (503) 846-4955 for more information about services and locations.

When to Keep Your Child Home
In the school environment many communicable diseases are easily transmitted from one student to another. A healthy environment involves prevention, early recognition of illness, symptoms, prompt diagnosis and treatment. Children who are not feeling well have a difficult time concentrating and therefore do not benefit from the instruction they receive during that time. Please do not send an ill child to school. We need your assistance in providing a safe and healthy environment for your child.

Below are some guidelines to help you make the decision whether or not to send your child to school. The recommendations are based on the guidelines provided by the Communicable Disease Division of the Washington County Department of Health and Human Services and The Oregon Department of Education.

Keep your child home if she/he has any of the following symptoms:

Symptom	Explanation
Fever	ANY fever greater than 100.5º F., may return when temperature decreases without use of fever-reducing medicine.
Vomiting	At least 1 episode that is unexplained in the past 24 hours. May return when resolved.
Diarrhea	3 or more watery or loose stools in 24 hours OR sudden onset of loose stools. May return when resolved for 24 hours.
Stiff Neck	Or headache with accompanying fever. May return after resolution of symptoms or diagnosis made and clearance given by medical provider.
Rash	ANY new onset of rash if accompanied by fever. May return after rash resolves or if clearance is given by medical provider.
Jaundice	Yellowing of eyes or skin. May return after diagnosis from physician and clearance given.
Skin Lesions	Drainage that cannot be contained within a bandage OR if rash is increasing in size, or if new sores or wounds are developing day-to-day.
Behavior Change	Such as new onset of irritability, lethargy or somnolence.
Cough/Shortness of Breath:	Persistent cough with or without fever, serious sustained coughing, shortness of breath, or difficulty breathing.
Other Symptoms	Or complaints that prevent the student from active participation in usual school activities, or students requiring more care than the school staff can safely provide.

If your child is diagnosed with a communicable disease, please notify the school as soon as possible. Some students have medical conditions and/or compromised immune systems that can become life threatening when exposed to certain illnesses.