Medication

A physician must authorize all prescription medication.  All prescription medication to be taken during school hours must be brought to the Health Services Office by the parent or a parent-designated adult.  To have medication dispensed, parents must first complete and sign the proper district form available in the school Health Services Office and have a prescription on file in the health office.  Students are not allowed to carry medication (including cough drops) to administer to themselves, except for an asthma inhaler or an Epi pen (as directed to do so by a physician and with support of documentation).  In addition, teachers are not permitted to hold or administer medication to students at school. When picking up medication from the pharmacist, parents are encouraged to ask the pharmacist for an additional properly labeled medication bottle. By doing so, one bottle can be kept at home and the other can be kept by the school nurse for appropriate dispensing.

Immunizations

A.R.S. 15-803 requires the parent, guardian, or person in loco parentis of a child to provide the school with an immunization history at the time of enrollment.  This history is to include the month, day and year for each vaccination.  Parents must show proof of immunization, and children will not be permitted to attend classes until the immunization history has been provided.

Emergency Information

It is of vital importance to keep students' emergency cards current.  The following information is provided on the emergency cards:

• Current home address and telephone number, or the number of the closest neighbor who will contact the parent.
• Place of employment and phone number of both parent/guardians.
• Name of a person who is responsible for the child in the event parents cannot be located immediately in the event of an emergency. Ailments such as diabetes, epilepsy, cardiac diseases, asthma, and allergies are some of the diseases that should be noted on health records and discussed with the health assistant at your local school.

Head Lice

The Alhambra District has a "no nit" policy.  As per that policy, children diagnosed with head lice or nits (eggs) may not attend school or ride the school bus until they have been cleared through the Health Services Office.  The best strategy for controlling lice is to use shampoos designed for the treatment of lice combined with diligent nit removal.  Shampoo is available from the Health Assistant.  Be sure to follow the directions on the label.  Nit removal is important as some of the eggs will survive the shampoo treatments.  It is also important to shampoo all affected family members at the same time.  Be sure to shampoo everyone once again 7-10 days after the first treatment.  Generally, if the proper treatment is followed, students should miss no more than 3-5 days of school due to lice.  Pamphlets, brochures, and videotapes regarding this topic are available through our Health Services office (841-7421, ext. 6610).