Health & Safety

District Wellness Policy | District School Safety Plan | Health Forms | Illness Protocol | Immunizations | Medications in School | NYS Health Screening | St. Regis Mohawk School-Based Health Center | Flu Resources

District Wellness Policy

Salmon River Central School District (hereto referred to as the District) is committed to the optimal development of every student. The District believes that for students to have the opportunity to achieve personal, academic, developmental and social success, we need to create positive, safe and health-promoting learning environments at every level, in every setting, throughout the school year. This policy outlines the District’s approach to ensuring environments and opportunities for all students to practice healthy eating and physical activity behaviors throughout the school day while minimizing commercial distractions.

View the District Wellness Policy.

Districtwide School Safety Plan

The Salmon River Central School District-Wide Safety Plan is responsive to the needs of all schools within the district and is consistent with the more detailed emergency response plans required at the school building level. Districts are at risk from a wide variety of acts of violence, natural, and manmade disasters. To address these threats, the State of New York has enacted the Safe Schools Against Violence in Education (SAVE) law. Project SAVE is a comprehensive planning effort that addresses prevention, response, and recovery with respect to a variety of emergencies in each school district and its schools.

View the Districtwide School Safety Plan.

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Health Forms

New York State schools are mandated by the Commissioner of Education to require each student enrolled in a public school to have a satisfactory health examination conducted by the student’s family physician, physician’s assistant or nurse practitioner upon the student’s entrance into Pre-Kindergarten or Kindergarten and grades 2, 4, 7, 9 and 11.

If your child will be entering a mandated grade in the fall, you are required to provide the district with a copy of a physical exam within 30 days of the start of the school year. This physical cannot be any more than 12 months old. If your child plans to play a sport, this exam will serve as a sport’s physical too. Below is a copy of the physical exam form to be completed by the student’s family physician, physician’s assistant or nurse practitioner.

• Required NYS Health Exam Form
• Dental Health Form

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Illness Protocol

The Salmon River Central School District remains committed to minimizing the potential health and safety impact of COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses.

As of March 2024, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the New York State Department of Health revised guidance concerning COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses. It states when individuals can stay home and when they can return to normal activities after respiratory infections like COVID-19, influenza and RSV.

• Individuals should stay home and away from others showing the symptoms listed in the chart below (per our school health policy)
• Individuals can go back to normal activities when, for at least 24 hours, symptoms have improved and they no longer have a fever without the use of fever-reducing medication (ie. Tylenol, Acetaminophen, Ibuprofen, Motrin)
• Individuals are no longer required to be out of school for five (5) days. It is recommended that they take precautions for the five days following, taking additional steps with hygiene, masks and testing when around others.

Salmon River Central School District recommends that you see your medical provider when your child is sick and to follow their recommendations about returning to school and other activities.

Contagious Illness

If your child has signs of contagious illness, it may be a good idea to keep him or her home for the day, in order to recover and to avoid spreading the illness to classmates. Contagious illnesses include:

• Vomiting
• Fever
• Frequent cough
• Rash
• Yellow discharge from the eye or ear
• Lack of sleep  

Chart: Should I come to school today?

Stay home if:	You can return when:
You have a fever of 100 degrees Fahrenheit.	You are fever free without the assistance of medication for 24 hours (i.e. Tylenol, Motrin, Advil).
You have vomited within the past 24 hours.	You have been free from vomiting for 24 hours.
You have diarrhea.	You have been free from diarrhea for 24 hours.
You have a body rash with itching or fever.	You are free from rash, itching or fever, and have been evaluated by your doctor, if needed.
You have an itchy head with active head lice.	You have treated the lice with appropriate treatment at home.
You have an eye infection, with redness, itching and/or pus draining from the eye.	You are free from drainage and/or have been evaluated by your doctor, if needed.
You have had a hospital stay or visited the hospital emergency room.	You are released by your medical provider to return to school.
You have strep throat or another bacterial infection.	You have been on an antibiotic for at least 24 hours and your medical provider has given permission to return to school.

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Medications in School

In order for students to take medicine in school, the district must have written permission from a doctor, physician’s assistant or nurse practitioner, written parent permission, and the medicine in the original container.

Each year our School Nurses are asked to administer prescribed and over-the-counter medication to larger and larger numbers of school children. Education law prohibits the administration of any drugs to children during school hours except when the specific conditions are met.

When it is necessary for a student to take prescribed or over the counter oral and inhaled medication (i.e.; Tylenol, Motrin, aspirin. cough syrup, etc.) during school hours, the parent must submit a written request to the school nurse, along with a written request from the physician that indicates the frequency and dosage of a prescribed medication. The nurse may then administer the medication during school hours.

All medication must be brought to the school by the parent/guardian in the original container. Medication can not be legally given unless the above procedure is followed.

We are finding that many students are carrying physician prescribed inhalers with them in school. Regulations allow students who are self directed to carry inhalers with them. However, we are required to have a list of these students in the nurse office along with a written prescription from their physician, and a written parent permission stating they are able to carry this medication with them. It is important for each student’s safety that the nurses are aware of any medical conditions especially those requiring medication.

• Physician and Parent Authorization Form (for Administration of Medication in School)

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NYS Health Screening Information

The district’s School Health Services program supports your student’s academic success by promoting health in the school setting. One way that we provide care for your student is by performing the health screenings as mandated by the State of New York.

During this school year, the following screenings will be required or completed at school:

• Vision: Distance and near acuity for all newly entering students and students in Pre-K or Kindergarten, Grades 1, 3, 5, 7, and 11. Color perception screening for all newly entering students.
• Hearing: Hearing screening for all newly entering students and students in Pre-K or Kindergarten, Grades 1, 3, 5, 7, and 11.
• Scoliosis: Scoliosis (spinal curvature) screening for all girls in grades 5 and 7, and boys in grade 9.

A letter will be sent home if there are any findings on the screening done at school that would cause concern or need medical follow-up. Please call the school’s Health Office if you have any questions or concerns.

Body Mass Index (BMI) Information

As part of a required school health exam, a student is weighed and his/her height is measured. These numbers are used to figure out the student’s body mass index or ‘BMI.’ The BMI helps the doctor or nurse know if the student’s weight is in a healthy range, or is too high or too low. Recent changes to New York State Education Law require that BMI and weight status group be included as part of the student’s school health exam. Our school district has been selected to take part in a survey by the New York State Department of Health. We may be reporting information about the weight status groups for students who were in Pre-K, Kindergarten, and in grades 2, 4, 7 and 10 during the 2020-2021 school year (this year’s Kindergarten, 1^st, 3^rd, 5^th, 8^th and 11^th graders). Only summary information will be sent. No names and no information about individual students are sent. However, you may choose to have your child‘s information excluded from this survey report.

If your child is in one of the grades which will have BMI information reported on the state survey, and you do not wish to have your child’s weight status group information included in the survey, please submit a letter to the school nurse stating this. 

If you have any questions, contact the school nurse for more information.

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