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JLCC/JLCCA, Communicable Diseases

JLCC/JLCCA, Communicable Diseases

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The Board of Education recognizes that communicable diseases which may afflict students range from common childhood diseases, acute and short-term in nature, to chronic, life-threatening diseases such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. This school district will rely on the advice of the medical community in assessing the risk of transmission of various communicable diseases to determine how best to protect the health of both students and staff.

The risk of transmitting HIV/AIDS is extremely low in school settings when current guidelines and preventative measures are followed.

The district is required to provide educational services to all school age children who reside within its boundaries. By law, admission to school may be denied to any child diagnosed as having a disease or carrying a disease-causing agent whose attendance could be harmful to the welfare of other students, subject to the district's legal responsibilities to children with disabilities.

However, any decision to deny admission shall be based upon reasonable medical judgment.

Communicable diseases may be divided into two categories, those that are readily transmissible in the school environment and those that are not. Readily transmissible diseases include influenza, common colds, and other respiratory infections. Although the incidence of serious or life-threatening illnesses that are readily transmissible in the school environment is quite low, diseases that are transmitted by airborne droplet, such as measles, active tuberculosis, whooping cough (pertussis) or COVID-19, can pose a serious threat to the health of students and staff. There are other serious or life-threatening illnesses that are caused by blood-borne or sexually transmitted infectious agents, such as acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) or hepatitis B, which are not readily transmissible in the school environment.

Management of common readily transmissible communicable diseases shall be in accordance with Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment or local public health department guidelines. A student who exhibits symptoms of a readily transmissible communicable disease may be temporarily excluded from school attendance. Parents are requested to keep such students home until the risk of transmission in the school environment is passed and the child can participate in school activities again. When a student cannot attend school due to illness, the parents should follow individual building procedures for reporting such absences.

Students who complain of illness at school may be referred to the school nurse and may be sent home as soon as the parents or their representative(s) have been notified. The district reserves the right to require a physician's statement authorizing the student's return to school.

When information is received by a staff member or volunteer that a student is afflicted with a serious, readily-transmissible disease, the staff member or volunteer will promptly notify the school nurse or principal to determine appropriate measures to protect student and staff health and safety. The principal, after consultation with the student and parent/guardian and school nurse, will determine which additional staff members, if any, have need to know of the affected student´s condition. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment or the local public health department will be notified when legally required. Only those staff members with direct responsibility for the care of the student will be informed of the specific nature of the condition if it is determined there is a need for such individuals to know this information.

In all proceedings related to this policy, the district will respect the student's right to privacy.

The superintendent will initiate procedures to ensure that all medical information will be held in strict confidence. Any school staff member who violates confidentiality will be subject to appropriate disciplinary measures.

Adopted prior to 1985
Revised January 6, 1988
Revised December 8, 1993
Reviewed May 5, 2010
Revised September 2, 2020

Legal References

  • 20 U.S.C., §1232 (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act)
  • 20 U.S.C., §1401 et seq. (Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004)
  • 29 U.S.C. §794 (1983) (Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act)
  • 42 U.S.C., §12101, et seq. (Americans with Disabilities Act)
  • C.R.S. 22-20-101 et seq., (Exceptional Children's Education Act)
  • C.R.S. 22-33-104 (2) (a) (compulsory attendance law—absence due to illness)
  • C.R.S. 22-33-106 (2) (b) (grounds for expulsion)
  • C.R.S. 25-4-1401, et seq.

Cross References

Note: See Colorado Department of Health guidelines, "Infectious Disease Flip Chart for School Personnel," available in each school building.