Health & Wellness

Mandated Physicals | Immunization Information | Permission for Medicine | Dental Health Certificate | Body Mass Index Information | When to Keep Your Child Home | Child Abuse Hotline

Mandated Physicals

New York State schools are mandated by the Commissioner of Education to re-quire each student enrolled in a public school to have a satisfactory health examination conducted by the student’s family physician, physician’s assistant or nurse practitioner upon the student’s entrance into Pre-Kindergarten or Kindergarten and grades 2, 4, 7, 9 and 11.

If your child will be entering a mandated grade in the fall, you are required to provide the district with a copy of a physical exam within 30 days of the start of the school year 2018-19. This physical cannot be any more than 12 months old. If your child plans to play a sport, this exam will serve as a sport’s physical too. Attached is a copy of the physical exam form to be completed by the student’s family physician, physician’s assistant or nurse practitioner.

• New York State Health Exam Form

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Immunization Information

Public Health Law 2164, as amended by Chapter 35 of the Laws of 2019, prohibits a school from permitting any child to be admitted to such school, or to attend such school, in excess of 14 days without sufficient evidence that the child has received all age-appropriate required vaccinations. The 14 days may be extended where the student is transferring from out of state or from another county and can show a good faith effort to get the necessary evidence or where the parent, guardian or any other person in parental relationship can demonstrate that a child has received the first age-appropriate dose in each immunization series and that they have age-appropriate scheduled appointments for follow-up doses to complete the immunization services in accordance with the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices Recommended Immunization Schedules for Persons Aged 0 through 18.

Acceptable proof of immunizations is a health care practitioner record, signed by a practitioner licensed in New York State. Records acceptable without a signature include: NYSIIS Record; Official registry from another State; Official record from a foreign nation, Electronic health record; School health record, (must be transferred directly from one school to another).

Demonstrated serologic evidence of measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis B, varicella or all three serotypes of polio antibodies is acceptable proof of immunity to these diseases. Diagnosis by a physician, physician assistant or nurse practitioner that a child has had varicella disease is acceptable proof of immunity to varicella. Please be advised that students not in compliance with the required immunization requirements, or those lacking proof of satisfactory progress toward completion, will be excluded from attending school until adequate proof is submitted.

Under a law signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo (Chapter 35 of the Laws of 2019), exemptions based on religious beliefs will no longer be allowed for the childhood vaccines that are currently required for entry or attendance at school in New York State.

If you have any questions, please contact the school nurse.

• View 2023-24 School Year New York State Immunization Requirements

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Permission for Medicine

New York State Education Department requires the school to have on file permission signed by the parent/guardian and the child’s physician before we can administer any mediation to your child. This includes both prescription and non-prescription (over the counter) medications. Please print and complete the medication dispensing form or prescription medication form and send them in with your child.

• Medication Dispensing form
• Prescription medication form

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Dental Health Certificate

New York State requests that all students entering grades Kindergarten, 2, 4, 7, and 10 provide the school with a dental health certificate. This certificate must be signed by a dentist who has examined your child sometime within the past twelve months. It must state that the child is in “fit” condition of dental health to permit attendance at school.

• Dental Health Certificate

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Body Mass Index Information

As part of a required school health examination, a student is weighed and his/her height is measured. These numbers are used to figure out the student’s body mass index or ‘BMI’. The BMI helps the doctor or nurse know if the student’s weight is in a healthy range or is too high or too low. New York State Education Law requires that BMI and weight status group be included as part of the student’s school health examination. Each year, a sample of school districts are selected to take part in a survey by the New York State Department of Health (DOH).

When the district is selected to be part of the survey, parents will be notified that physical exams from the previous school year will be used for that NYS report. When surveyed by the state, only summary information is sent. No names or information about individual students are sent. Parents may choose to have a child’s information excluded from this survey report.

Learn more about About Child & Teen BMI on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

If you do not wish to have your child’s weight status group information included, please complete and submit the BMI Opt-Out Form.

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When to Keep Your Child Home

It can be difficult for families to decide whether to send students to school when they wake up with early symptoms of illness or complaints that they do not feel well. However, there are some situations in which it is best to plan on keeping your child home for the day to rest or arrange for an appointment with your health care provider. They include:

1. Persistent fever greater than 100 degrees orally, including a fever that requires control with medication such as Tylenol or Motrin.
2. Child is too sleepy or ill from an illness like nausea, vomiting, and/or diarrhea, to profit from sitting in class all day.
3. Significant cough that makes a child feel uncomfortable or disrupts class.
4. Red swollen tonsils with white patches.
5. Sore throat that is severe accompanied by fever and/or feeling ill that persists longer than 48 hours OR after known exposure to a confirmed case of Streptococcal throat infection.
6. Honey-crusted sores around the nose and/or mouth area that might be impetigo or a significant rash accompanied by other symptoms of illness such as fever and sore throat.
7. Red, runny eyes that that distracts the child from learning.
8. Large amounts of discolored discharge especially accompanied by facial pain or headache.
9. Severe ear pain or drainage from the ear.
10. Severe headache especially accompanied by fever.
11. Any condition that you think maybe serious or contagious to others
    If you know your child is running a fever, it is not a good idea to give Tylenol or Motrin and send them to school. As soon as the medicine wears off, you are apt to get the dreaded call from the nurse to leave work and come to pick up your feverish child.

Remember, a fever may be a sign of strep throat or the flu. Students must be fever free without Tylenol or Motrin and on antibiotics, if prescribed, for a minimum of 24 hours prior to their return to school per recommendation of the school physician.

Additional information on the flu can be found on the New York State Health Department website.

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Child Abuse Hotline

If you suspect a child is being abused or maltreated (neglected), report it by calling 1-800-342-3720, a toll-free 24-hour hotline operated by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services. If you believe a child is in immediate danger, call 911 or your local police department. Information about reporting child abuse and maltreatment (neglect) is available online at http://ocfs.ny.gov/main/cps/.

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