Help stop the spread

You don’t have to work in a school very long to realize this: illness spreads quickly.

Whether it’s the common cold or the flu, educators need to take steps to prevent the spread of communicable illnesses. The health and safety of our staff and students is our top priority. For this reason, the Glendale Elementary School District wants to provide you with this important information regarding communicable diseases and how we can partner with families and community members to safeguard all students.

Many communicable diseases may be present at this time of the year, including, but not limited to:

Common cold, coughs, and sore throats;

• Enterovirus D68;
• Flu, or flu-like illness;
• Viral gastroenteritis such as norovirus;
• Although it has attracted considerable media attention, to date there are no diagnosed cases of Ebola in Arizona.

How classrooms will be cleaned to protect staff and students

The cleaning staffs at all GESD schools have already started more intensive flu season preparations. All classrooms and high touch surfaces — desks, tables, keyboards, door handles, water fountains, chairs — will be disinfected every other day. A spray application of disinfectant will be applied to these surfaces and be allowed to air dry. This method gives the cleaning material the maximum time on surfaces for increased effectiveness.

In order to maximize our disinfectant application exposure at each site, flat surfaces need to be free of all items that could/would be damaged by a fine mist application of disinfectant. Chairs will need to be left on the ground and not tucked under desks and/or tables. This will obviously impact ready access to the floor for vacuuming and other cleaning, so the disinfecting schedule will alternate classrooms (unless circumstances dictate otherwise).

Hand washing is our best defense

Handwashing continues to be our number one line of defense in preventing communicable diseases of any sort from spreading. Please encourage your students to use the hand sanitizer available to them in their classroom. Hand washing and good hygiene practices are imperative year round in the control of communicable diseases. Encourage your students to wash their hands frequently, especially before eating. Remind children not to share drinks or food with their classmates. This is also an opportunity to remind kids to cough and/or sneeze into a tissue, dispose of the tissue properly, and wash their hands.

These efforts will assist in reducing the spread ofgerms during the upcoming flu season.

What if a student becomes ill at school?

Students who get sick at school should be immediately sent to the nurse’s office. GESD nurses use the State of Arizona and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines regarding communicable disease. If students have a fever, they will be sent home, and parents will be asked to keep them home until they are fever free without medication for a minimum of 24 hours.

OK, what if I get sick?

If you are ill, please see your family physician, healthcare provider or urgent care. For cost reasons you should avoid using hospital emergency rooms. More importantly, stay home, and do not return to work until you are fever and symptom free for 24 hours.

As we partner, we will help keep ourselves and our students healthy during this flu season.