Health Policies

As per Washington State Law, no child may enter school without a complete immunization record.  Parents may also opt to take a personal, religious or medical exemption for their child from immunizations.  Medical exemptions require a doctor’s signature.  Children with exemptions will be excluded from school should there be an outbreak of the disease.

Diocesan policy on First Aid staff dispensing medications require the following:

1. A Medication Request Form must be completed for each student receiving any kind of prescription or non prescription medication at school. A request must be signed by the child’s parent/guardian and by a physician or dentist, must be current and unexpired, and must be valid for a period not to exceed one school year.  Medication Form & Medication Request Parents.
2. All medication (prescription or non prescription) must be in its original container.

Head lice  guidelines at Trinity and the Catholic Dioceses of Spokane (Policy #5141.7) are as follows:

1. If the child is found to have live bugs in his/her hair by school personnel, he/she is to be removed from the school by the parent/guardian and treatment must be started.
2. If the child is found to have nits in the hair by school personnel, he/she is to be removed from school by the parent/guardian and treatment must be started.
3. In order for the child to return to school, the hair must be nit-free.

Head lice is considered a communicable disease and, like many other communicable diseases, is easily spread among children.  A child does not get head lice from the school, he gets it from close contact with the other human beings at the school.

This problem has absolutely nothing to do with the kind of parents that a child has.  It has nothing to do with cleanliness; in fact, head lice prefer a clean, healthy head to a dirty one.  Anyone, adult or child, can get head lice.  Almost every school in this country deals with head lice at some time or another.

If you are called to come and get your child, please cooperate with us and follow the treatment and guidelines.  We have a responsibility, not only to our regular classroom situations but to our Educare and extended care program as well, to be diligent about halting the spread of lice.  We will work with you and assist you in any way we can.

If you should discover that your child has head lice, please notify the office as soon as possible as the classroom will need to be treated and other students will need to be checked.

Schools shall have on file a care plan for all students who suffer from asthma, diabetes, acute allergic reactions, and other life threatening illnesses.  This plan must be developed and signed by the parents in collaboration with their physician and must be acceptable to the school.  If parents do not submit a care plan, student illnesses will not be considered life threatening.

Parents are requested to keep children home who appear to be ill in the morning.  Only in exceptional cases, and with a signed note from the child’s physician, will the child be allowed to remain in the classroom while the rest of the class is on the playground.   The office should be notified IMMEDIATELY if a child has a communicable disease. Children who are in attendance MUST be symptom-free for 24 hours.

If a child becomes ill during the day, the office will notify the parents so they can decide if and when he/she will leave school that day.  The school should be provided with emergency telephone numbers that may be used if parents cannot be reached at home. Sick children must be picked up within the hour to prevent additional exposure.

Cleanliness is an important factor for maintaining good health.  We ask that children come to school neat, clean, and symptom-free.