PAPILLION, Neb. (KMTV) — Parents in the pick up line outside of Tara Heights in Papillion trust their kids are coming home safely. But that really starts before they even get to school. Parents are asked to run through a questionnaire every daythat is posted in the Papillion La Vista Community School's app and on its website.
“Sometimes it’s hard to remember to do it in the morning, but overall, I guess it’s a good thing,” Julie Brood, mother of two school aged kids said.
She said she's a little freaked out about the thought of kids going to school sick.
“A part of me feel like yes, there are going to be parents that send their kids anyways but I’m really hopeful that they’re keeping them home if it (the screening app) says to,” Brood said.
Papillion La Vista Schools has sent kids home sick already this year. Though they didn't say exactly how often it's happening.
“We’re probably being overly cautious,” Annette Eyman, Communications Director for Papillion La Vista Community Schools, said. “So, if a child shows up and then develops a cough the nurse is absolutely going to send them home. That probably wouldn’t have happened last year at this time. Under the COVID rules, a cough is very closely related to COVID so we just can’t take the risk.”
Running though this screening, developed by health professionals at Children's Hospital and Medical Center, takes the guess work out of it for parents by specifically saying OK to go to school or stay home and the next steps.
“Wearing masks, social distancing when possible, lots and lots, we’ve put in a ton of health precautions in our schools,” Eyman said. “What we need is our parents to partner with us to make sure if there is potential of a student having COVID or of them coming to school sick that they keep them home until we know for sure the situation we are dealing with.”
Eyman said another thing that has been difficult for some to understand is if anyone the child lives with is being tested for COVID-19, the child needs to stay home and isolate until the test results come back.
