VOA教育报道2024--US Schools Change Health Guidelines for Keeping Students Home

US Schools Change Health Guidelines for Keeping Students Home

　　Unclear guidelines for when to keep a child at home if they are sick might play a part in the nationwide problem of students missing too much school.

　　Some activists¹, school officials and the state of California are now asking that parents send their children to school even if they show signs of sickness. They say acceptable problems include eye infections and lice.

　　Families need to hear they no longer must keep children at home at any sign of sickness, said Hedy Chang. Chang is the director of Attendance Works, a nonprofit group aiming to improve school attendance. The group has issued its own guidance. It urges parents to send children to school if they can join day-to-day activities, have low-level sickness or head lice.

　　The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization for doctors who treat children. It recommends that children stay home when there are signs of sickness like fever, vomiting², or diarrhea, or when students "are not well enough to participate in class."

　　A fever is defined as a body temperature above 38 degrees Celsius³.

　　But many school districts go far beyond that, offering different signs of sickness that would prevent parents from sending their children to school.

　　Which is it?

　　Trenace Dorsey-Hollins has a five-year-old daughter who was sick a lot last year. Dorsey-Hollins followed school guidelines and kept her daughter home when she had a cough, painful throat, fever, or sneezing.

　　Near the end of the year, school officials in Fort Worth, Texas, called her in to talk about why her daughter had missed so much school.

　　During the pandemic, schools urged parents and children to stay home at any sign of illness. Although the emergency has ended, she said no one has said that those rules have changed.

　　"In the past, if the child didn't have a fever...then it's okay to send them to school," said the mother of five- and 13-year-old children. "But now it's like if they have a cough...you might want to keep them home. Which is it?"

　　Dorsey-Hollins' youngest daughter goes to school in Fort Worth Independent School District. It suggests staying home if a child has a cough, sore throat, or rash. The guidelines say a student should be "fever-free" for 24 hours without medication before returning to school.

　　Austin Independent School District in Texas lists signs of illness like "eye redness," "undetermined rash," or "open, draining lesions" as reasons to stay home.

　　Other school districts have different guidelines. Children with lice cannot go to class in New York City schools. And Maryland's Montgomery County schools recommend keeping a child home for stomach pain, "pale or flushed face," or "thick yellow discharge from the nose."

　　Dr. Claire McCarthy is a doctor at Boston Children's Hospital who teaches at Harvard Medical School. She said it is understandable that different places would have different guidelines.

　　"Each school or school district has a different tolerance⁴ for illness," said McCarthy.

　　10 percent of the school year

　　Test results show that children fell behind in their studies when schools closed during the pandemic. Children who regularly missed school found it more difficult to catch up. During the 2021 to 2022 school year, more than 25 percent of students missed at least 10 percent of the school year. That number is up from 15 percent before the pandemic.

　　Missing 10 percent or more of the school year puts students at risk. Students who miss school also might miss meals, socializing with other students and adults, physical exercise, and mental health and health care services.

　　In addition, teachers must spend a lot of time supporting students who miss class. This takes time from students who attend class and are on target for the year.

　　Recently, the state of California decided⁵ to change their stay-at-home guidelines for the autumn. The new guidelines say children with low-level signs of sickness can come to school.

　　Noha Aboelata leads the Roots Health Center in Oakland, California. The group says it provides health services for poor people and those affected⁶ by inequality. Aboelata said the change in guidance might have a greater effect on poor people and minorities.

　　Aboelata said people in those communities might be more likely to live in homes with more than one generation, to take public transportation, or have poor heating and cooling systems in their homes.

　　She said she hoped that staying home when sick would continue after the pandemic. Instead, she said, "it feels like the pendulum⁷ is swinging fiercely back in the other direction."

　　Tracy Schmidt oversees⁸ attendance for the Office of Education in San Diego County, California. She said she feels hopeful that parents and schools will learn about the new guidance and that students will miss less school.

　　"The most important place for our kids to be is school," she said.

　　Words in This Story

　　lice –n. (pl.) a small creature that lives on people's bodies and easily spreads from person to person

　　participate – v. to be involved with others in doing something

　　school district – n. an area created by a local government which has public schools that are overseen⁹ by local government officials and paid for through local taxes

　　cough –v. the involuntary forcing of air through the throat often because of sickness

　　sore –adj. painful

　　rash –n. a condition on the skin that makes it red or swollen¹⁰ and often produces itching¹¹

　　undetermined –adj. unknown

　　lesion –n. a raised area of skin that is unhealthy, damaged or cut

　　tolerance – n. the ability to accept, experience, or survive something harmful or unpleasant

1 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 vomiting   

吐

参考例句：

• Symptoms include diarrhoea and vomiting. 症状有腹泻和呕吐。
• Especially when I feel seasick, I can't stand watching someone else vomiting." 尤其晕船的时候，看不得人家呕。”

3 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

4 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

7 pendulum   

n.摆，钟摆

参考例句：

• The pendulum swung slowly to and fro.钟摆在慢慢地来回摆动。
• He accidentally found that the desk clock did not swing its pendulum.他无意中发现座钟不摇摆了。

8 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

9 overseen   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was overseen stealing the letters. 他被人撞见在偷信件。 来自辞典例句
• It will be overseen by ThomasLi, director of IBM China Research Laboratory. 该实验室由IBM中国研究院院长李实恭(ThomasLi)引导。 来自互联网

10 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。

11 itching   

adj.贪得的，痒的，渴望的v.发痒( itch的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The itching was almost more than he could stand. 他痒得几乎忍不住了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My nose is itching. 我的鼻子发痒。 来自《简明英汉词典》