| Upper Arlington City School District |
| Administrative Guidelines |
8453 - COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
Procedures to Implement Policy on Communicable Diseases
| A. | Approved procedures for reporting and handling of communicable diseases shall be followed by school health officials. | |
| Reporting | ||
| Any information concerning a student or employee with a communicable disease, other than HIV (as defined in the Board’s policy and regulation regarding students and employees diagnosed with HIV), that is brought to the attention of a staff member should be reported to the school nurse so appropriate steps can be taken to protect the health of the student or employee and others in the school setting. If necessary, the school physician and/or the Upper Arlington Health Commissioner will be consulted as to what procedures to follow. Such information shall be treated as confidential and released only as required by law or with appropriate consent. | ||
| B. | Communicable Disease Consultation Team |
| 1. | Purposes | ||
| The purposes of the Communicable Consultation Team ("Consultation Team") are to: |
| a. | Review instances of a communicable disease in individual schools or the District as a whole and recommend to the Superintendent appropriate health and safety measures to be implemented to protect individual students and employees in the District; and | |||
| b. | Review instances of communicable diseases involving an individual, such as an individual diagnosed with HIV, and make recommendations to the Superintendent as to the individual’s continued attendance at school or continued employment in the District on the basis of health and safety of both the individual and others in the same school environment. |
| 2. | Composition | ||
| The team may consist of the school physician or designee, an infectious disease specialist, the personal physician of a person or persons diagnosed with the communicable disease and/or other healthcare professionals as appropriate. If a group of individuals has been diagnosed with the disease, a representative sample of the individuals’ person physicians may be included rather than including all personal physicians of those diagnosed with the disease. | |||
| 3. | Review Process and Reports | ||
| The review process to be followed by the Consultation Team, as well as the nature of the reports to be prepared by the Consultation Team, shall be identical to that contained in the District’s policy and procedure regarding students and employees diagnosed with HIV, with the understanding that all references to "individuals diagnosed the HIV" or other mention of "HIV" shall mean "communicable disease" when use din the context of this communicable disease policy. Other appropriate sections of the HIV policy may also be applied when necessary to investigate and make recommendations to the Superintendent concerning incidents of communicable disease in the school environment. | |||
| 4. | Term of Committee | ||
| In all cases when convened under this policy, the Consultation Team shall function for as long as its existence is beneficial to the District. |
| C. | Education |
| 1. | Universal Precautions | ||
| All staff shall be trained in the use of universal precautions when handling blood and other human body fluids that can contain viruses of infectious diseases. The training shall be provided as detailed in the District’s OSHA Safety Program. | |||
| 2. | Information about specific communicable disease | ||
| As it becomes relevant to individuals in the school setting, educational information about specific communicable diseases will be included in the student curriculum and employee training within the District. |