When it’s OK to send sick kids to school

Amid high absentee rates, some parents are pushing back against loosened sick-day rules

- By JENNY GOLD

AL SEIB Los Angeles Times

ALTADENA teacher Julie Silk with her pupils in 2021. California saw 40% absenteeism rates during the pandemic.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the rules for school attendance with the sniffles were clear, if a bit draconian: Keep a child home from school at any sign of illness.

Since then, school policies have softened significantly. At Los Angeles Unified School District, for example, parents are directed to send their children to school if they have a mild cold or cough. The main symptoms that require keeping a child home are fever of 100.4 and above, vomiting or diarrhea, according to district instructions on “How to Safely Send Your Student to School.”

But the rules aren't catching on among families. “Parents still keep kids home for a light case of the common cold or some sniffles. And we're beyond that reality,” LAUSD Supt. Alberto Carvalho said in a recent interview.

Many parents disagree — especially parents of children in kindergarten and transitional kindergarten, who have the highest rates of chronic absenteeism statewide — as well as the germiest hands, snottiest noses and least developed immune systems.

“I honestly wouldn’t want to jeopardize his health for the learning,” said Dulce Valencia, the mother of a kindergartner at San Fernando Elementary School, whose son has already been out sick two or three days this year. “I know it’s their goal to always have their kids in school. But if my child is at risk of getting worse or getting other kids sick, I’m not going to be sending him.”

Pediatricians’ take

“A lot of parents have whiplash about these recommendations,” said Dr. Eric Ball, a pediatrician in Orange County and chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics California. During the pandemic, parents were told to test their children for COVID and keep them home for even the sniffles.