How Germs Spread: Illnesses such as the flu (influenza), Norovirus (sudden and violent nausea, vomiting and diarrhea), and colds are caused by viruses that infect the nose, throat, lungs and gastrointestinal tract. Flu and cold viruses usually spread from person to person when an infected person coughs or sneezes and the virus is inhaled by another person. Norovirus is spread by infected persons passing germs through food or ineffective hand washing. Germs are also spread by droplets when a person touches something that is contaminated with a virus and then touches their eyes, nose, or mouth. The length of time germs can live on certain surfaces depends on the virus.
Disease Prevention & Education: To help prevent the spread of any infectious disease, schools have an opportunity to educate students, staff, and the community on social etiquette, good health and hygiene habits, and disease prevention. ICCSD will provide education and reminders on handwashing, coughing, and sneezing any time there is a suspected outbreak and during the school year as requested by staff. ICCSD will have current illness/disease prevention information on the ICCSD Health Services website. During times of suspected or identified infectious disease outbreaks, the school district will coordinate with JCPH to address the outbreak.
Our basic educational message is:
- Cover your cough
- Wash your hands often
- Stay home if you’re sick
- Wear appropriate PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) as recommended by JCPH
1. Cover Your Cough: Teach students coughing and sneezing etiquette in classrooms and hang instructional posters in the school buildings. Have an ample supply of tissues available in each classroom and school area.
- Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze.
- Cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve, not your hands.
- Wash your hands after you cough or sneeze, or use hand sanitizer.
2. Wash Your Hands Often: Handwashing with soap and warm water is the best option. Hand sanitizers can be effective when there is no access to water, they are most effective if they have at least 60% alcohol in them. Staff are encouraged to provide time and opportunity each day for students to practice washing their hands with soap and water upon arrival at school, after coughing and/or sneezing in hands, at the beginning of the lunch line before eating, after bathroom use, and after recess.
- Wet hands with water, apply soap and scrub hands together for at least 20 seconds.
- Thoroughly rinse under warm, running water.
- Dry hands completely with a paper towel. Use a paper towel to turn off faucet handles and open restroom doors. If there are air dryers in the restrooms, rub hands vigorously together under the dryer until completely dry.
- Handwashing and Respiratory Etiquette Websites:
3. Stay Home if You’re Sick: A primary strategy against the spread of illness is for sick people to stay home from school. This includes students, staff and volunteers. In times of suspected or identified infectious disease outbreaks, sick leave policies for staff and students will be reviewed, modified (if needed), clearly communicated, and consistently enforced.
4. Wear Appropriate PPE (Personal Protective Equipment): When working with students with suspected infectious disease, staff will wear PPE as recommended by JCPH.
Illness/Disease Monitoring & Tracking: During times of a potential infectious disease outbreak, building secretaries will inform the building nurse of increased absenteeism due to illness. Building nurses will report increased absenteeism to the ICCSD Coordinator of Health Services. If a building has 10% or more of its total enrollment absent due to illness, the building nurse will report it to the Iowa Department of Public Health through its online reporting system (https://redcap.idph.state.ia.us/surveys/?s=C4XNALH3R9). The Health Services Specialist will implement a surveillance system to detect unusual rates of illness in schools. School nurses, health office paraeducators, and building secretaries will monitor illnesses daily, track illness trends, and report to the Health Services Specialist. The Health Services Specialist will monitor absentee rates, illness trends/patterns, and report to JCPH.
Staff are trained to be alert to children who are ill. Examples of symptoms include fever, frequent cough and/or sneezing, sore throat, and vomiting/diarrhea. Symptomatic students need to be sent to the health office for evaluation.
During periods of suspected or identified infectious disease outbreaks.
- Health office staff (nurses, health office paraeducators, and secretaries) should protect themselves by wearing appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) when deemed necessary by JCPH.
- Students who have a cough/sneezing with a fever will stay in the health office and will be reasonably distanced from healthy students until parents arrive. Having an ill person distanced can help to slow or prevent the spread of disease.
Disinfection & Cleaning Procedures: Keep commonly touched surfaces such as stairway railings, door handles, computer keyboards, bathroom faucets, and surfaces, drinking fountains, telephones, and elevator buttons clean by wiping down with a disinfectant. During an infectious disease outbreak, consideration will be given to increasing the frequency of cleaning these commonly touched surfaces and areas based on the nature of the disease. In addition, we will consult with JCPH for guidance on any necessary operational procedures that need to be enacted (i.e. changing HVAC filters, specialized disinfectants to use, closing rooms for a period of time, proper ventilation, etc.). When an employee or student with a suspected infectious disease is identified and has left the building, it is important that their work area, along with any other known places they have been, are thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. Clean the surface to remove dirt and soil with a cleaning agent, if needed, and disinfect following manufacturers' recommendations, paying particular attention to dwell time requirements. The person cleaning and disinfecting (usually a custodian) should wear appropriate PPE according to JCPH recommendation. Hands must be washed or sanitized at the completion of the procedure. During times of a specifically known or suspected disease outbreak, the school district will consult with JCPH for guidance.
Buses: ICCSD contracts school bus services with North America Central School Bus, called Iowa Central School Bus, LLC locally. According to their procedures, school buses are cleaned by the drivers on a regular basis during the normal school year. However, during periods of suspected or confirmed infectious disease outbreak, consideration will be given to increasing the frequency of cleaning schedules based on the nature and spread of the disease and guidance from our Public Health Department. Additional airflow can be forced on the buses by opening selected windows and the top hatches on the buses if outside temperatures can allow cooler air to flow through the buses without causing additional harm.
Nutrition Services Food Safety/Sanitation Protocols: The ICCSD Nutrition Services Department follows safe food handling and storage practices from receiving through meal service. Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles are followed in each step of the food preparation process. Nutrition staff receive training upon hire and at least three times a year which includes education on good personal hygiene and proper food handling practices. Staff are not allowed to come to work if they have a fever, diarrhea, jaundice, or vomiting. During periods of suspected or confirmed infectious disease outbreak, modifications will be considered to services based on the severity and nature of the outbreak. This could include discontinuing the use of self-serve salad bars, serving sack lunches instead of cafeteria-style lunches, and having more stringent sick employee policies. Nutrition Service Departments will follow guidance from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Social Distancing: During suspected or identified infectious disease outbreaks, several social distancing measures can be taken to reduce the spread of an infectious disease. Discourage handshaking. Discourage the sharing of drinks or food. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Avoid face-to-face meetings, however, if unavoidable, maintain a distance between individuals as determined by JCPH. Cancel or postpone non-essential meetings, gatherings, assemblies, field trips, workshops, or training as deemed necessary by the superintendent in collaboration with JCPH. Consider having flexible hours and attendance policies to maintain social distancing and reduce illness in district office facilities.
Where to Get Information: If an infectious disease outbreak or pandemic occurs, having accurate and reliable information will be critical. Here are several websites to consult.
