Wauwatosa School District Nurses work with students, families, and staff to enhance the student educational process by preventing, removing, or limiting barriers to student learning, while promoting decision-making that leads to an optimal level of health.

If your student has any health needs that will impact them during the school day or during extracurricular activities, please contact the nurse that covers your student’s school.  

Direct services are provided to students through the combined efforts of nurses, health aides, school secretaries, designated teachers and instructional assistants.

Minor illness or injury will be taken care of by a trained, designated staff member.  In case of a serious illness or injury, trained staff will provide basic first aid and use the emergency medical services by calling 911, when necessary.

Student Health Services include medication administration, health care plans, first aid and illness care, emergency care, immunization records, special health care procedures, vision screening and individual health counseling.

Deciding when to keep a sick child home from school can be a difficult decision. To help identify illnesses in our schools, caregivers are encouraged to report their child’s specific symptoms when calling in sick to the school attendance line. The following guidelines will help you decide whether your child is too ill to attend school. This information does not take the place of consulting a medical provider.

If you are unsure if your child should stay home from school or for how long, please call your school office or the nurse that covers your child’s school.

Send your child to school if...

• Runny nose, minor sore throat or just a little cough, but no other symptoms above students baseline (allergies, asthma, etc.) without fever should not miss school.

Keep your child home if...

• Symptoms are consistent with COVID-19, meaning they have any of the following:

  • New or worsening cough, shortness of breath/trouble breathing, new loss of taste or smell, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, fever or chills, sore throat, unusual fatigue, muscle or body aches, runny nose or nasal congestion, or headache.

• If symptoms are consistent with COVID-19, your child may return when:

  • If the COVID-19 test is positive, the individual may return to school 5 days after symptoms first started (day 0 is the day symptoms first appeared, count 5 days, day 6 is when the individual can return to school/programming). 

  • If the COVID-19 test is negative, the individual may return as symptoms allow. See below.

  • If not tested for COVID-19, may return as symptoms allow. See below.

Consider COVID-19 testing if your student has symptoms consistent with COVID-19. Symptoms of COVID-19 include:

• New or worsening cough, shortness of breath/trouble breathing, new loss of taste or smell, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, fever or chills, sore throat, unusual fatigue, muscle or body aches, runny nose or nasal congestion, or headache.

Wauwatosa School District accepts PCR, antigen, or at-home antigen tests. To report COVID test results, please call your student's school office.