Purpose
The School Board and the School District are committed to the provision of a healthful environment for students and employees. In fulfillment of that commitment, the School Board has consulted and will continue to consult appropriate medical, educational, legal and governmental authorities. The following guidelines are a result of this consultation.

Definitions
Carrier -- A person who, without any apparent symptoms of a communicable disease, harbors an infectious agent and may serve as a source of infection.

Communicable disease -- An illness caused by an infectious agent or its toxic products, which is transmitted directly or indirectly to a susceptible host from a carrier, infected person, animal or arthropod or through the agency of an intermediate host or vector through the inanimate environment.

Communicable period -- The time during which a carrier or infected person can transmit an infectious agent directly or indirectly to another person.

Contact -- A person exposed to the possibility of acquiring a communicable disease because of his or her association with a carrier or infected person.

Infected person -- A person who evidences any symptom of a communicable disease.

Reasonable accommodation -- Any addition to or modification of existing facilities, equipment, programs, schedules, policies, procedures, methods, operations or services that would enable a carrier, contact or infected person to remain in his or her existing classroom, facility or position or to enter a classroom, facility or position comparable to that which he or she would have entered were he or she not a carrier, contact or infected person. Reasonable accommodations, however, do not require additions or modifications that would impose undue hardship on the operation of School District programs. In determining whether an addition or modification would impose "undue hardship," the School Board will consider the following factors:

1. the cost of the change;
2. the ability of the School District to cover the cost of the change;
3. the degree to which the change will disrupt or diminish the effectiveness of School District programs;
4. the number of students, faculty and programs affected by the change:
5. the educational and other needs of the students affected by the change
6. the extent to which the change will reduce the risk to health and safety,
7. the duration and severity of the risk to health and safety; and
8. any other matter that the School Board deems to be relevant.

Significant risk to health and safety -- Risk that is posed by the presence of a carrier, contact or infected person and that is significant enough to justify a change in the educational program or placement or in the employment status of a carrier, contact or infected person. In determining the significance of a risk, the School Board will consider reasonable medical judgments on the following factors:

1. the manner by which the infectious agent is transmitted;
2. the duration of the communicable period;
3. the severity of the risk to others; and
4. the probability of transmission to others.

Applicability
This policy will apply to all students, employees and job applicants who have received an offer of employment in all programs conducted by the School District.

Individual Consideration
The School District will consider each case, individually, consistent with these guidelines.

Admission Of Students

1. The School District will admit a carrier, contact or infected person to his or her assigned classroom or facility, that he or she would have entered were he or she not a carrier, contact or infected person, unless a change in assignment or exclusion is recommended by the Superintendent or designee and is approved by the School Board after consultation with the school physician. Before the Superintendent or designee recommends any change or exclusion, he or she will consult with the student's attending physician, the student's parents or guardian and, if necessary, the educational personnel in the student's existing proposed placement.
2. The School Board will approve a change in assignment or an exclusion only if, after reasonable accommodation, the carrier, contact or infected person would still pose a significant risk to health or safety.
3. Any change in assignment or any exclusion approved by the School Board under subsections 1 and 2 of this section will change only as much or will continue only as long as is necessary to prevent significant risk to health and safety.
4. If a student contracts any of the communicable diseases identified by the Department of Health in Section 27.71 of the Department's regulations, 28 Pa. Code § 27.71, the Superintendent or designee may exclude that student without consulting the School Board. Such a student will be referred for action, which conforms to the requirements of 28 Pa. Code §§ 27.71 through 27.75.
5. The School District may establish procedures necessary for the safe operation of each of its services, programs, and activities. The School District may make such inquiries as are needed to ensure safe participation in its services, programs, and activities.
6. The School District may require a limited waiver of the physician-patient privilege as a condition of admission or continued admission of a carrier, contact or infected person, to the extent necessary to prevent significant risk to health and safety.
7. The Superintendent or designee may exclude any suspected carrier, contact or infected person, until a licensed physician can complete an examination, or on the physician's recommendation and opinion that that is necessary to prevent significant risk to health and safety until such time as the School Board has had an opportunity to act on a recommendation for a change in assignment or an exclusion.
8. The school physician will review at least once every three months the case of each carrier, contact and infected person to determine the current status of the case and, if necessary, to revise the original recommendation in light of new information and new developments in medicine.
9. Any student who is excluded from school pursuant to this policy will be referred to the building principal for appropriate action, which may include the provision of homebound or other alternative education, action to comply with Section 1329 of the Code, 24 P.S. § 13-1329, and/or other action at the discretion of the Superintendent or designee.
10. The following pediculosis control procedure shall be adopted:
    
    

    a.		Examine child’s hair and scalp and exclude from school if lice and nits are found
    b.		Call parent or guardian
    	(1)	Explain that the parents’ or guardians’ responsibility includes:
    		a.		Contact with family physician for advice and recommended products for complete lice and nit removal.
    		b.		Implementation of appropriate treatment.
    		c.		Returning the child to school only after the child is totally lice and nit free.
    		d.		Having the child examined by the school nurse upon return.
    	(2).	Inform parent or guardian that the following steps will be  taken upon the child’s return to school:
    		a.		The child will be examined by the school nurse for three consecutive days and weekly for one month. If not entirely free of lice and nits upon inspection/reinspection, the child will again be excluded for appropriate treatment.
    		b.		Children in the affected classroom, siblings and others who may have come in close contact with the infected child will be examined and instructed about the prevention and treatment of pediculosis.
    		c.		The school nurse in any other school attended by siblings of the affected child will be called to apprise her/him of the situation.
    		d.		The appropriate teacher(s) will be notified of the inspection of the affected child.
    		e.		At the discretion of the principal, a letter may be sent home with students in the affected classroom advising parents or guardians of the situation.
    		f.		If the school physician declares an epidemic, a letter prepared by the school physician and the administration will be sent to all school families.
    		g.		In no case will any student be allowed to return to school unless it has been verified by the school nurse that the child is totally lice and nit free.

    
    

Confidentiality
In accordance with state and federal law, the School District will keep confidential all student records of carriers, contacts and infected persons. The School District will disclose confidential information only to those School District personnel who need the information to protect themselves and others from significant risk to health and safety. The School District personnel will not reveal any confidential information to any other person unless the Superintendent or designee authorizes them to do so.
Education
The Superintendent or designee will develop a program to educate parents or guardians, students and staff about the detection, treatment, transmission, risks and prevention of communicable diseases.
The program will also inform parents or guardians, students and staff about the communicable disease policies and in developing an education program, the Superintendent or designee will refer to Chapter 27 of the regulations adopted by the Department of Health, entitled "Communicable and Noncommunicable Diseases," 28 Pa. Code §§ 27.1 et seq., and to any relevant guidelines issued by the Federal Centers for Disease Control.

Evaluation
The Director of Special Education and Support Services will periodically report to the Superintendent regarding the effectiveness of these guidelines and will make recommendations for their revision in response to developments in medical research and treatment.

Prior Policies And Guidelines
These guidelines supersede all prior inconsistent guidelines and policies.