From Our RSS School Nurses…
When do I need to keep my child
home from school?
The American Academy of Pediatrics
recommends you answer a few key
questions:
*Not everyone with flu will have a fever.
Flu symptoms can be very much like a
cold, but the key is that flu symptoms
usually all appear at once.
Cold
1. Does your child have a fever? Fever
is generally a sign of illness, so chil-
dren should stay home from school.
Often starts with a sore throat, runny
or stuffy nose. Symptoms tend to last
for 1 to 2 days. Fever is not typical
with a cold – so unless your child is
uncomfortable, and just plain zapped of
energy, they likely have a cold and are
fine to attend school.
2. Is your child well enough to partici-
pate in class? If he/she seems too run
down to get much out of her lessons,
keep them at home.
Pink Eye
3. Does he/she have an illness like the
flu or pinkeye? If so, don't let them go
back to school until you know they are
not contagious.
Fever
Children should be fever free (<100.4°F), without use of fever reducing
medications, for 24 hours before returning to school.
Diarrhea
Keep your child home until their bowel movements are solid. Students
should have no toileting accidents.
Vomiting
Less than 2 episodes of vomiting in the last 24 hours and no symptoms of
dehydrations or other symptoms (such as fever) are present.
Symptoms may appear as redness
or swelling in the white parts of the
eye(s), increased tears, itching/irrita-
tion or burning, discharge from eye(s)
and crusting of eyelids/lashes especially in the morning. Symptoms may
start in one eye or both. You should see a healthcare provider if any of these
symptoms are present and follow their directions for returning to school.
To prevent spread of illness, encourage children to wash their hands fre-
quently. During cold and flu season this is especially important after cough-
ing, sneezing or blowing their nose.
Still unsure what to do? Ask your doctor if you should keep your child at
home.
Sharon Beck, BSN, RN, NCSN
District Lead Nurse
Rowan-Salisbury Schools
Flu
Symptoms may be mild to severe. People who have flu often feel some or
all of these symptoms: fever*, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose,
body aches, headache, chills, fatigue, and sometimes diarrhea and vomiting.
Renewal and Financial Flexibility
Our responsibility at Rowan-Salis-
bury Schools (“RSS”) is to provide
our students with experiences,
learning and resources to prepare
them to succeed in life so they
graduate ready to be productive and
contributing members of the com-
munity. RSS understands that for
many of our students, public educa-
tion is the only source of hope and
possibility.
Our related commitment does not
change as a Renewal School Sys-
tem. I hear lots of conversation
about our district’s financial flex-
ibility under the new law. What is
financial flexibility? Historically, RSS
has received funding from the state
in 25-30 different buckets each with their own set of rules and regulations.
If our district underspent in one bucket, we could not spend those monies
otherwise. The lack of flexibility led to the reversion of funding back to our
state each year.
As a Renewal School District we will receive our 2018-2019 state allotments
in one bucket with no restrictions. Financial flexibility allows RSS to optimize
8 • November/December 2018• Parent Teacher Magazine
our state funding but should not be confused with financial freedom. Our
district strongly believes increased responsibility and accountability comes
along with flexibility.
As a result, we are taking additional time to create our final 2018-2019
state budget. RSS received our initial state allotment for this school year
in mid-August ($118.8 million). We are currently developing practical and
actionable state budgets at the school and district department levels; bud-
gets that will drive our success as a Renewal School System and best serve
our students. Our 2018-2019 state budgeting effort started by preserving
funding (at 2017-2018 levels or higher) for key programs like Exceptional
Children, Career and Technical Education and English as a Second Language
to ensure students in those programs have access to comparable funding
versus other North Carolina public school districts.
Principals and department directors will have final state budgets by the end
of September. The finance department will support budget management
across the district with training, monthly variance analysis and access to
improved analytical tools to ensure ownership and accountability for our
spending. The district understands the responsibility of financial flexibility
and is grateful for the chance to optimize state funding to enable innovative
and engaging learning. Because our students deserve every opportunity for
success and happiness.
Carol M. Herndon
Chief Financial Officer, Rowan-Salisbury Schools