Lead Academy Health Services
We hope that your child never has to miss school because of any illness or chronic condition. The best protection from disease is prevention. You can help prevent many illnesses by making sure your child receives immunizations and washes his or her hands often. The school nurse will assure that every student is up-to-date with required immunizations by state law. For chronic conditions, the school nurse will create individualized health plans, known as IHPs. These care plans can assist in student’s in receiving treatment at school to decrease absences. These plans may consist of goals, assessments, and monitoring compliance with medications. Overall, the role of the school nurse is to keep our crew in school!
Parents/Guardians are responsible for keeping contact information up to date by informing the school of any changes in a timely manner. It is important that you turn in the yearly emergency contact information forms so we are up-to-date.
In case of emergencies, If a parent/guardian can not be reached, per state law, school staff will be required to take whatever actions deemed necessary for the well being or our Crew. This may include an emergency administration of Epinephrine/EpiPen, performing CPR, requesting Emergency Medical Services (EMS), and transporting our crew to the nearest hospital. Attempts to reach out to our parents and guardians will be one of our first actions.
Medication Policy & Forms
A parent or guardian of the student must submit a form for any medication to be given during the school day. The following consent forms can be provided by the school or may be printed off and brought to the school.
For Prescribed Medication: Permission for School Administration of Prescription Medication
For Over-The-Counter Medications like Tylenol and Motrin: Permission for School Administration of Non-Prescription Medication
Physicians need to sign Authorization Forms and Emergency Action Plans
For ONLY Asthma:
Asthma Inhalers Authorization Form
For ONLY Anaphylaxis:
Anaphylaxis Autoinjectors Authorization Form
Anaphylaxis Emergency Action Plan
For BOTH Asthma & Anaphylaxis:
Asthma Inhalers Authorization Form
Anaphylaxis Autoinjectors Authorization Form
Allergy/Anaphylaxis Emergency Action Plan
Allergy/Anaphylaxis IHP Questionnaire
For ADD/ADHD:
Permission for School Administration of Prescription Medication
For Diabetes Type 1:
Please have a Physician complete a Diabetes Medical Management Plan also known as a DMMP.
Diabetes Type 1 IHP Questionnaire
For Seizures:
Seizures Emergency Action Plan
All medication must be in a container appropriately labeled by the pharmacy, healthcare provider, or in the original container. The child's health care provider’s request and consent must contain the following information:
name of medication
dose to be given
time to be given
number of days to be administered
any special instructions
ICD-10 code
All medication will be stored in a locked cabinet in the health room. Medications must be picked up at the end of the year or it will be properly disposed of.
Self-managed medications will be evaluated on an individual basis by the school nurse. A written physician's order is required, as well as parental consent.
The school nurse is responsible for ensuring that:
the administration of medication is properly documented
that therapeutic benefits and side effects are monitored
that appropriate information is communicated to parents, healthcare providers, and school staff
Medications will be sent on field trips. The teacher will be responsible for transportation, securing, administration and documentation of medication on field trips. No over-the-counter medications containing aspirin may be given as needed. This includes, but is not limited to, Pepto-Bismol, Alka-Seltzer, Triaminic.
Lead Academy does not provide over-the-counter medications such as Motrin, Tylenol, or cough drops.
School Exclusion List - When to keep your child home from school:
If you think that your child has an illness that can be spread to others, please keep him or her home from school and contact your healthcare provider. SC Regulation #61-20 requires that SC DHEC publish each year an official list of conditions requiring exclusion from school or childcare settings for each school year. It tells you if your child needs a doctor’s note or medical treatment to come back to school or childcare after certain illnesses.
If you have any questions about the School and Childcare Exclusion List, please contact your child’s school nurse, primary care provider, or your local health department.
Click here to view the School and Childcare Exclusion List
Haga Clic Aqui para Ver La Lista de Exclusión
Frequently Asked Questions:
When should sick children stay home from school or childcare?
If your child feels too sick to go to school or childcare or has one of the illnesses on this form, please keep your child home.
Does my child need to stay home when the child just has a cold? Most children with mild colds who have no fever and who feel well enough to go to school or childcare do not need to stay home. Most colds spread in the 1-3 days before children show symptoms such as a runny nose or minor cough.
Does my child have to stay home due to a fever? All students must wait until they have been fever free for at least 24 hours prior to returning to school.
OK to Attend Children with the following conditions do not have to be excluded from school, if they feel well enough to participate in regular activities:
• Canker Sores
• Chronic Hepatitis B or C
• Colds or coughs, without fever or other signs of illness
• Cold Sores
• Croup
•Cytomegalovirus (your child may need to stay out of PE and sports)
• Disease spread by mosquitoes for example Malaria and West Nile Virus
• Diseases spread by ticks: Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, Lyme Disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Tularemia
• Ear Infection
• Fifth Disease
• HIV infection
• Mononucleosis (your child may need to stay out of PE and sports)
• MRSA, if child is only a carrier
• Pinworms
• Rash without fever or behavior change
• Roseola, once the fever is gone
• Thrush
• Urinary Tract Infection
• Warts, including Molluscum contagiosum
Health Screenings
Lead Academy performs student mass health screenings in selected grade levels. As recommended by the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC), these screenings include vision and hearing. Health screenings play an important role in the health and health education of our children and help to identify students that may need a referral for medical/professional evaluations. The school nurse does NOT perform medical evaluations. If a referral is necessary based on the screening findings, the school nurse will send information home with the student. It is the responsibility of the parent or guardian to schedule the appropriate medical appointment. All health screening information is maintained in the school nurse’s office and may only be shared with the child’s parent or guardian. If you DO NOT want your child to participate in the health screenings, please reach out to the School Nurse during the first days of school.
All students in grades K-4, K-5, 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th grades will be screened for distant vision problems and hearing. If your child does not pass this screening, he/she will be screened again after two weeks. If he/she does not pass this second screening, you will be notified that your child needs further evaluation by a Physician or Optometrist. If your child is not in one of these grades, and you would like to have them screened, please send a note to the School Nurse and she will be glad to screen your child.
SAVE Act
The Safe Access to Vital Epinephrine (SAVE) Act, approved by the South Carolina Legislature, allows school districts to store supplies of epinephrine auto-injectors for identified school staff to use in emergencies for students with allergic reactions. Parents and guardians of students with known allergies should continue to provide Epi-pens for their children. These students will continue to have Emergency Action Plans and Individual Health Care Plans developed by the school nurse to address their issues with allergies. school personnel who are annually trained on the recognition of allergic responses and how to use an epinephrine auto-injector (Epi-Pen) in the case of allergic reactions.
If your child has a severe food allergy, please contact your school nurse for additional information.
Immunization Requirements
Immunizations are an important part of our children’s health care, and South Carolina state law requires that children going to school be vaccinated to prevent vaccine-preventable disease unless they are exempt. All students are required by South Carolina law to provide documentation that includes month, day, and year the vaccine was administered. Doses documented on the immunization certificate must be VALID doses according to accepted practice standards for the minimum age(s) and intervals. If the child is exempt, the parent must provide valid proof of exemption. Please send proof of immunization or a religious exemption to the front office. Any student noncompliant with vaccines may be excluded from school until complete.
Your help in providing updated immunization records at school registration and any time that your child receives additional vaccine(s) is greatly appreciated. If you have questions or concerns about immunizations, please contact the school nurse.
Click here for 2024-2025 school year vaccination requirements