Health Services

The Marshalltown Community School District Nursing Staff are committed to supporting student success by providing a safe and healthy learning environment and working with the educational team to address health related barriers to learning. All schools in our district have a school nurse who can be a primary source of information in student health related matters.

2022-23 MCSD Communicable Disease Procedures

COVID-19 variants are still circulating in the world and in our community, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The good news is that these variants have not been shown to cause more serious illness or deaths, mainly due to protective factors such as COVID vaccinations. New treatments for COVID, and vaccines, have dramatically decreased the numbers of people who get seriously ill. In light of this we will return to our regular illness guidelines for the 2022-23 school year:

Students should stay home when they are sick. Students will be sent home for:

A temperature of 100.4º F or higher
Active, illness related vomiting or diarrhea

The parent/guardian will be called and the student will be sent home. Other symptoms that influence the decision to send the student home include general appearance and functioning in the classroom. After a period of observation a decision will be made to do one of the following:

Notify the parent/guardian for symptoms of illness, as determined by the school nurse. Not all student visits to the health office will result in parents/guardians being contacted.
Allow the student to rest in the health office for a brief period then return to class.

During times of high rates of illness, such as during influenza season, the length of time a student must remain home after fever/symptoms of illness may change as recommended by Marshall County Public Health.

Returning to school after an illness

Students are to be fever-free for 24 hours without fever-reducing medication (such as Tylenol or ibuprofen)
No active vomiting or diarrhea for 24 hours
Other symptoms improving
COVID testing is not required to return to school

Regarding COVID-19, MCSD supports the following CDC/MCPH recommendations:

Frequent hand washing and social distancing to the extent possible.
Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines and boosters.
Get tested if you have symptomsIf you are at high risk for severe illness, talk to your healthcare provider about other precautions.
Wear a mask indoors in public when community COVID transmission levels are high.
Follow CDC recommendations for isolation and masking if you have symptoms or test positive for COVID-19 – MCSD Guidance for COVID-19 isolation.
MCSD will continue to stay up-to-date on guidance from local, state, and CDC public health guidelines.