Madison City Schools

Dear Parents and Guardians,

With respiratory and gastrointestinal illness season upon us, we want to take a moment to review the Madison City School System’s policy regarding communicable diseases and prevention strategies. We understand it can be inconvenient to keep a sick child at home; however, children who are not feeling well are less able to learn effectively, and attending school while ill increases the risk of spreading infection to others.

Below are guidelines from the Madison City School System Code of Conduct for when to keep your child home from school:

● Fever: Temperature of 100.0°F or higher.

Your child must be fever-free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications (such as Tylenol or Ibuprofen) before returning to school.

● Vomiting and/or Diarrhea: Keep your child home if they have vomited or had diarrhea within the last 24 hours.

They should remain home until symptom-free for at least 24 hours.

● Productive Cough: If your child has a frequent, productive cough, please keep them home until symptoms improve.

● Rash of Unknown Origin: Students may return with documentation of a physician’s diagnosis and any required treatment.

● Conjunctivitis (Pink Eye): Students may return 24 hours after treatment begins or when cleared by a physician.

● Streptococcal Infection (Strep Throat): Students may return to school after a minimum of 24 hours of antibiotic treatment and once fever-free.

● Undiagnosed Open Sores: Any open sores that appear infectious (oozing fluid or pus) must be evaluated by a physician. The student may return after being cleared by a healthcare provider.

Please keep your child home if they are experiencing any of these symptoms and contact your healthcare provider for further guidance. As always, prevention is key. Encourage your child to wash their hands frequently with soap and water, get plenty of rest, and maintain a balanced diet to help reduce the spread of illness.

Thank you for your continued partnership in keeping our students and staff healthy and learning.

Sincerely,

Becky Tucker, BSN, RN, NCSN

System Supervising Nurse, Madison City Schools 

The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) requires that ALL students,11 years and older, entering the 6th grade at the start of the 2025-2026 school year to have a Tdap (tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis) vaccine or current religious or medical exemption on file.  The law does not apply to students who will not be 11 years old entering the 6th grade on August 4, 2025.

If your child has reached or will soon reach his/her 11th birthday, I’d like to encourage you to please make an appointment with your child’s healthcare provider for a well visit to discuss the required and recommended immunizations. The healthcare provider should produce an updated Certificate of Immunization (COI) at that time to give to your school nurse when completed.  (Your local Health Department can also provide the needed immunizations and updated records.) A valid COI must have the Alabama state seal in the background and must not be handwritten.

In order to avoid any disruption in attendance, documentation of the TDaP vaccine (or religious/medical exemption) should be brought to the school nurse by August 1, 2025.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Becky Tucker, BSN, RN, NCSN

MCS System Supervising Nurse