Student Health

The Post Oak School is committed to providing safe care for students in collaboration with school staff and families.

We employ a proactive safety program that focuses on prevention to maximize the health and safety of children and faculty and minimize the risk of accidents and injuries. The nurse works with faculty, staff, athletic coaches, school counselors, and families to ensure that the following services are managed and provided in compliance with all relevant laws.

Magnus

My BackPack

Judith McDonald

Nurse

BS in Biopsychology University of Michigan
BS in Nursing Texas Woman's University
BLS/ACLS Certified
Vision/Hearing/Spinal Screening Trained

Illness

We cannot admit your child to school if one or more of the following conditions exist:

The illness prevents the child from participating comfortably in normal school activities, including outdoor play;
The illness/injury requires more care than teachers can provide without compromising the health, safety, and supervision of the other children in the class;
The child has one of the following, unless medical evaluation by a healthcare professional indicates that child is well enough to attend school:
- Oral temperature of 100.4 degrees or greater, accompanied by behavior changes or other signs or symptoms of illness
- Symptoms and signs of possible severe illness, such as lethargy, abnormal breathing, uncontrolled diarrhea, two or more vomiting episodes in 24 hours, rash with fever, mouth sores with drooling, behavior changes, or other signs that the child may be severely ill
- A healthcare professional has diagnosed the child with a communicable disease, and the child does not have medical documentation to indicate that the child is no longer contagious (see Communicable Diseases below).

These guidelines are taken from the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services Minimum Standards for Licensed Schools and Centers. For more guidelines on when to keep your child home, please see the conditions below.

Common Conditions and Guidelines for When to Keep Your Child Home

Covid-19 (Coronavirus)

Exclusion from school: Yes
Readmission criteria:
- Fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever suppressing medications, 5 days have passed since symptom onset, and other symptoms have improved. Children who test positive for Covid-19 but do not have any symptoms must stay home until at least 5 days after the day they were tested.
- Must be cleared by school nurse to return to school.
- Student must mask for an additional 5 days after returning to campus.

Common cold

Diarrhea

Fever (temperature of 100.4° F or higher)

Influenza

Lice (Pediculosis)

Rash/skin symptoms

Stomach virus

Conjunctivitis, bacterial or viral (pink eye)

Communicable Diseases

This section is adapted from Appendix VI of Minimum Standards for Child-Care Centers from the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services. For more details please see the Communicable Disease Chart for Schools and Child-Care Centers issued by the Department of State Health Services (DSHS). Any time your child is diagnosed with a communicable disease, or if you are unsure if your child has been diagnosed with a communicable illness, please contact the school nurse so that the appropriate notifications can be made. Common communicable illnesses include but are not limited to the common cold virus; hand, foot, and mouth; fifth disease; impetigo; wound and skin infections; “ringworm;” head lice; roseola; mononucleosis; RSV.

Per TDFPS, children must follow the communicable disease exclusions required for schools as defined by the Texas Department of State Health Services. Children excluded for a communicable disease may be readmitted by a written note from a healthcare worker: a physician, local health authority, advance practice nurse, or physician’s assistant. A school may require a note from a parent or healthcare worker for readmission regardless of the reason for the absence.

Exclusion from Attendance

Exclusion from attendance is fully specified in the Texas Administrative Code. The major criterion for exclusion from attendance is the probability of spread from person to person. A child may have a non-communicable illness yet require care at home or in a hospital.

Return to School After an illness

It can be difficult to determine whether or not your child is ready to come back to school. If you have any questions about this, you may contact the school nurse. Absolute guidelines include:

Your child must be free of fever without the aid of fever-reducing medication for at least 24 hours before returning to school. However, we recommend your child is fully recuperated and well rested prior to returning to school.
Please do not send your child back to school until any diarrhea has completely subsided.

Per TDFPS, children must follow the communicable disease exclusions required for schools as defined by the Texas Department of State Health Services. You can access this information here.

Early Departure Due to Illness

If a child needs to go home due to illness, usually the lead teacher or the school nurse will call the parents to arrange for pick-up. The child is escorted to the reception area, and the receptionist is informed about the pick-up arrangements.

Injuries and Emergencies

Post Oak employees respond immediately following designated procedures for minor injuries, serious injuries, and emergencies if an injury or emergency occurs. All faculty and staff receive training in first aid, CPR, and the use of AEDs every two years. Each classroom is equipped with a first-aid kit which is inspected regularly.

Parents and guardians are asked, upon enrollment, to keep their profile updated through My BackPack and Magnus, empowering the school to seek and approve emergency medical treatment in the event the parent cannot be reached.

Minor Injury

In the event of minor injury, an adult attends to the child and administers first aid. The lead teacher or school nurse informs the parent about the situation, either by phone, in person at dismissal time, or through Magnus. The employee who witnessed the accident completes the accident report and routes it to the division director, who reviews it and forwards it to the school nurse, who maintains the accident report in Magnus. If the accident is not witnessed, the person responsible for the child at the time of the injury completes the report.

An accident report is completed whenever an accident occurs, and the report is reviewed to determine if any corrective action is required. If a child requires follow-up medical care, either after the parent picks up the child or through EMS, accident reports must be completed and signed by the appropriate employees and parents within 48 hours. We maintain records of all such occurrences.

Serious Injury and Emergencies

In the event of serious injury, a faculty member will immediately call 911 and notify the front desk. The staff will administer first aid until the arrival of emergency medical technicians. Parents will be notified at the earliest opportunity by telephone so they may come to the school. If a parent cannot be reached, a faculty or staff member will remain with the child, accompanying them to the hospital, if necessary.

After the emergency is handled, the lead teacher fills out an accident report. Either the division director or head of school will contact the family to check on the condition of the injured child later in the day.

Concussion

Parents are provided information about concussions from the CDC through their Magnus portal. A concussion is a type of brain injury that changes the way the brain normally works, most often caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head. Children and adolescents are among those at greatest risk for concussion, as they can result from a fall, or any time a student’s head comes into contact with a hard object, such as the floor, a desk, or another student’s head or body. The potential for a concussion is greatest during activities where collisions can occur, such as during physical fitness (PF), playground time, or sports activities. Students may also get concussions when doing activities outside of school, such as driving or club sports, but then come to school when symptoms of a concussion are present.

All concussions are serious, but concussions can have a more serious effect on young, developing brains. Hence, they need to be addressed correctly. Most concussions occur without loss of consciousness, and some students may not experience or report symptoms until hours or days after the injury. While most young people with a concussion will recover fully and quickly, for some, concussion can have symptoms that last days, weeks, or longer. Hence, recognition and proper response to head injuries when they first occur can help aid recovery and prevent further injury and/or impact.

The Post Oak School follows these CDC guidelines:
Following any head injury, children will be monitored either by their teacher or the school nurse for thirty minutes. Signs and symptoms of concussion will be assessed at the time of the injury or on arrival to the nurse's office, fifteen minutes later, and at the end of thirty minutes. Students who experience one or more of the signs or symptoms of concussion after a bump, blow, or jolt to the head should be referred to a healthcare professional with experience in evaluating concussion. For those instances when a parent is asked to come and take their child to a physician, the students should be observed for any new or worsening symptoms immediately prior to their departure from campus; a copy of the checklist will accompany the student for the doctor to review. (PDF of concussion assessment)

Anaphylaxis and Food Allergy

Anaphylaxis is a sudden, life threatening, severe allergic reaction. The most dangerous symptoms include breathing difficulties, a drop in blood pressure or shock. Common examples of potentially life threatening allergies are those to foods or stinging insects. Other allergic reactions may also occur to medications, latex, or exercise. The emergency treatment is epinephrine, which is usually supplied in epinephrine auto-injectors (example: EpiPen®, Auvi-Q®, or TEVA).

While The Post Oak School cannot guarantee an allergy-free environment at school, the school is committed to doing everything possible to ensure the safety of every child who has allergies. Our school has developed guidelines to manage students with these life threatening allergies so that they may safely and fully participate in the educational process.

If a physician feels it is medically necessary for a student with severe allergies to keep an epinephrine auto-injector at school, the student must have an Allergy Action Plan signed by the physician and parent on file in Magnus. The Allergy Action Plan must be filled out each year by the student’s prescribing physician and must be signed by both the prescribing physician and the parent/guardian.

The Post Oak School has procedures in place regarding the maintenance, administration, and disposal of epinephrine. The school works to provide epinephrine that is maintained unlocked in the clinic, checked periodically, and disposed of properly after use. Staff is appropriately trained as to the right circumstances in which to administer epinephrine and Benadryl in the event of an anaphylactic reaction. Parents of children with known anaphylaxis are expected to provide an individual supply of emergency medication. The epinephrine must be in the original container with the prescribing label intact. Expired medications will not be accepted, and will be disposed of if not picked up by the parent.

Self-Carry Considerations

Students who are at risk for developing anaphylaxis are entitled to carry and self-administer their anaphylaxis medications (epinephrine auto-injectors) while at school or a school event, if they have met the legal requirements below:

The medication and the self-administration must be authorized by a physician or licensed health care provider.
The student must demonstrate to the physician or other healthcare provider and to the school nurse, the skill level necessary to self-administer the medication.
The Post Oak School utilizes the FARE allergy action plan that has the components of the legal requirements included within it. Please complete this form through Magnus to ensure the safety of your student with a severe allergy.
The parent and student must complete and sign the Student Self Medication form in Magnus.

Food Allergy

A food allergy management plan will be individualized to all students who have food allergies. Once notified of the student’s allergy, a working partnership with the student, parents, student’s physician, school nurse, teachers, and other Post Oak employees as appropriate, begins the foundation for the development of a plan that ensures the safety of the affected child. The first issue to be addressed is always the emergency response. This ensures that a team of at least two (2) head of school-designated staff members, who work daily with the affected student, are trained to recognize an allergic reaction, have the rescue drugs readily available, and can quickly treat the student. This will include training of these staff members annually or more frequently as the school nurse deems necessary. In the case of severe, life-threatening allergies, appropriate personnel will collaborate to eliminate the food allergen in their child’s environment during school and for school sponsored activities and celebrations.

Asthma Care at School

Students with asthma should submit an annual Asthma Action Plan signed by the physician and parent. Those who require medication at school (either inhaler or nebulizer) must submit Medication Authorization Forms to the school nurse.

The 77th Texas Legislature enacted House Bill 1688, which amends the Education Code to entitle a student with asthma to possess and self-administer prescription asthma medication while on school property or at a school-related event or activity. The bill specified the conditions under which a student is entitled to possess and self-administer asthma medication.

Asthma Action Plan
Self-Carry Considerations

Asthma Action Plan

If a physician feels it is medically necessary for a student with asthma to carry and self-administer prescription asthma medication, the student must have an Asthma Action Plan signed by the physician and parent on file. (This form is required in Magnus for students who indicate they have asthma.)

The Asthma Action Plan must be filled out each year by the student’s prescribing physician and must be signed by both the prescribing physician and the parent/guardian.

The school nurse will assess the student’s ability to recognize symptoms and correctly use the medications.

Self-Carry Considerations

Unless an additional supply of medication is provided for storage in the school nurse’s office, parents and students must recognize that it is the student’s responsibility to carry the medication at all times. The school does not keep an emergency supply of asthma medication in stock.

Students who require asthma medication for athletic activities must also process the medication through the school nurse. If the student has permission from the physician on the Asthma Action Plan to self carry their asthma medication, they may do so after discussion with the school nurse. The self-carry form in Magnus must also be completed and signed. If they do not have authorization to self carry the medication, the school nurse will coordinate with the athletic coach to make sure that the student’s medication needs are met.

Seizures and Epilepsy

Parents of students with newly diagnosed seizures or epilepsy should provide information to the school prior to the student’s attendance. It is essential that the school have a health plan that describes the care needed while at school. The school should know the antiepileptic medications (AEDs) your child is taking, and when dosages are adjusted to be aware of possible side effects.

An annual Seizure Action Plan signed by the physician and parent is required to be on file in Magnus for all identified students. The action plan will identify any antiepileptic medications or first aid required at school or in the event of an emergency. For those who require emergency medication, the action plan will contain details of how and when to provide the medicine. Medications kept at school must also have a Medication Dispensing Form uploaded to Magnus.

During a seizure, the teachers and staff will remain with the student, being calm and reassuring, observing and noting the time of the seizure. The student should not be restrained, and nothing should be placed in the mouth. The action plan must be followed. If necessary, emergency medical staff must be contacted, and emergency medication administered if the health plan indicates.

Animals at School

Some classes at the Bissonnet Campus do have a variety of animals. Please indicate on your parent profile in My BackPack if your child has an allergy to animal hair or dander. The teacher will check this information before introducing an animal to the class. In addition, some children have fears about animals; it will be helpful to inform the teacher in writing about such fears.

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