I need opinions of mothers of school age children. Let me begin by saying my son is a good student & loves school. He has asthma &
a lot of allergies. He takes meds daily to function when school starts. He did not have an asthma attack or allergy problem the whole time school was out. He has been back in school 3 weeks & already sore throat, sinus inf, headache & temp.
If a child is out of school they must have a dr's excuse. He was
sick this a.m. but I took him to school & told the teacher if he was not better by 11:00a.m. to call me & I would come get him. Instead they sent him to the nurse which gave him a cough drop. There is already some children in the class wearing perfume & this is fourth grade. The teacher has been spraying pesticides which I feel is part of the problem but I know if I complain the teacher will make it worse on the child and he likes his teacher.
Sorry this is so long but I would like to know how you handle the situation when your child is out sick. When mine is out they send letters
of reprimand altho I personally know most of the teachers, I realize it is a formality but it is very annoying. I feel if a child is sick they should not be pressured to go to school just to make the school look good. Thanks for your opinion.
I am not a mother of school age children but I am a grandmother of 5 school age children. I have never understood why a child has to prove he is sick with a doctor's excuse. I could understand if a child was truant repeatedly. In your case, it is obvious that your child has asthma attacks and would miss school more than normal.
So many parents send their kids to school rather than fight the system and then you have sick children there spreading germs. I often wonder how they think you can get a doctor's excuse when it is impossible to get into a doctor at the drop of a hat. Also wonder how they expect everyone to pay for a doctor's visit for minor things that could be treated by keeping the child home in bed.
As for the perfume and pesticides you have my deepest sympathy. I have COPD and I am on full time oxygen. People who drown themselves in perfume are my pet peeve. I would ask that my child be seated away from those wearing perfume. Also I would not hesitate one minute reporting the spraying of pesticides. I would dare her to make it hard on my child. His health is your main concern. Perhaps your doctor could write a note to the school stating that being around perfume and pesticides triggers his asthma attacks.
I live in a small town and I am friendly terms with everyone on the school board and I wouldn't hesitate speaking with one of them about it. You must stick up for your child's rights because no one else is going to.
I've rattled on too long but I am very adament about this breathing thing..............
Diane
Unless you are a well known trouble maker at the school 
they should not have a problem with the pesticide thing... and perfume? 4th grade? Cripes, that is ridiculous. My kids (12,9,6 & 5) only have to show a Dr's note if they are out more than 3 days ( I think.)
I do no that school are funded on a per child basis and when kids don't come to school, the school doesn't get the money... it may not sound like much but it adds up. If at all possible, I try to send my child for at least part of the day... I had a dental appt. 30 min. after school started once and still sent my daughter for the first 15 min. so the school could get paid. If my kids is sick, no way am I going to bother with all that. 
I think you should definitely speak up about the pesticides.... we get form letters every time they spray and I have never heard of them spraying while the children are present.
Hope your son feels better 
The teacher is spraying pesticides in the classroom? And your son has been well all summer, but sick several times since school has started?
First, I would hightail it to his doctor and get him to either write you a letter or contact the school itself, explaining to them that it sounds like there are some serious environmental considerations they need to deal with.
Secondly -- unfortunately since public schools are run by the govt, they are money-driven, and THAT is the main reason why they pressure moms to be sure their kids are there as many days as possible every year. They get paid x-number of dollars per head per day, based on the attendance records taken some time mid-morning.
Sadly -- that's just the way it is.
But I would certainly enlist my doctor's assistance in this matter. It sounds like your son's health is being endangered by simply going to school each day. We've had a problem with black mold here in the Houston schools -- there may very well be mold and mildew in your son's school that is contributing to his continuing illness.
Good luck. It's not easy speaking truth to power. But it must be done for your son's sake.
I'm surprised. Here if they're sick they want them home so what ever it is they have, doesn't spread like the plague. Better to have one sick kid on the records than half the class, or so I would think. We have to call and state he will be gone but that is, as I understood it, to make sure everyone is safe, as in not in a car accident or abducted walking to school. A note from home is also requested to make sure parents were aware of the absence (kids are sneaky).
I worked daycare for 5 long years and I spent most of those years with a cold or flu of some sort. Kids attrack and pass germs easily, let's face it if washing your hands and using a kleenex is going to interrupt their all important play time then more often than not it just won't get done. I don't know much about asthma but I would guess the stimuli that's causing this is only going to get worse. Not much you can do about perfume on the other kids but talking to the teacher about what she controls would be my first step. Every child's health should be top priority especially if they're looking to impress the school district.
My ex was a pest control specialist, so I know this as information I learned from him many years ago. It is illegal for the teacher, who is not trained in pest control, to spray insecticides in the classroom. Since this is a public place, by law, this must be done by a technician.
Contact an attorney immediately.
Theresa
Oh my gosh, my friend and I were just talking about this , just this morning. 
I sent my son to school Thursday, he said he had a headache, but sometimes you just never know if they are trying to play hooky or not.
Anyway I sent him, told his teacher, and also told her I had an appointment for my daughter, to call his grandparents if he needed to come home.
So, tender hearted me, thought well I am going right past school anyway, so I will stop and ask how he feels, if he says it still hurts then I'll check him out.
Go in the school and the secratary says " he was just in here complaining with a headache, but he didn't have a fever, so we sent him back to his room. 
Hello, have you not ever had a headache without a fever ? I myself, like most of you other ladies get one atleast once a month, if you know what I am talking about.
You can't tell me she couldn't have called me, so I couldn't have gotten him.
Then she had the nerve to ask me if I was going to bring him back if it went away.
Can you believe it.
Sorry this is so long, but don't get me started on school, especially homework.
As a very well know and extremely LOUD squeaky wheel with our school district, this is my advice to you: Get a doctors statement saying that your son is extremely sensative to perfumes, pestacides, etc and must be kept away from them. The teacher should then send a note home to her student's parents stating your son's health issues and to please not allow their children to wear perfumes and colognes to school. She should also not use pestacides in her classroom, especially since it is usually illeagal for the schools to spray pestacides without posted warnings and dates that it will be done.
Your son has a respiratory ailment that can be deadly if not taken care of. That would be like asking a person who is allergic to peanuts to sit next to someone who is eating a peanut butter sandwich! You pay your taxes, and your son is entitled to a healthy education. If you have been an active parent, it is time to become a proactive parent!
As for his absences, if he is having an asthma attack that lasts more than 24 hours, you need to get him to a doctor ASAP.... don't play games with his health and make sure you have your rear end covered when the school board comes a calling because of his absences. If you have prrof that you are taking him to the doctor on a regular basis when he is having these attacks they can not do anything. You, however, can prove that the school environment is making your son ill and they need to accomodate him.
I currently homeschool.
I wanted to homeschool from the get-go, but I married a man from a family of schoolteachers, so after much discussion, my children were enrolled in public school as they came of age.
My son has health problems. When he gets sick, he doesn't do it halfway. He doesn't tend to miss one day, he misses three or more, sometimes five at a whack. How was I to know that after a child misses ten days in one year, child protective services is called. I'll tell you how I found out. I found out when they knocked on my door.
After much fighting with the school district, who wouldn't listen to me when I complained, cajolled, and pled, I withdrew my children from school, and we have been happily home-schooling for five years.
Man, I hope you can get your situation worked out. Me, I could go on forever about schools, so I will drop it now.
Making kids have a Dr's note for a fever or something is absolutly insane. My parents live in Minnesota and they don't want the kids at school if they have even a cough or runny nose, makes no sense since you're most contagious before you come down with something and coughs can last for weeks. The school my kid goes to is just the opposite, the nurses send kids who throw up back to class. That happened to us last year and the teachers insisted that my child be sent home, I got him home and he was sick, running a fever and everything. Last week I got a call from the nurse saying they thought he had ringworm, I asked if they wanted me to come get him since it is contagious and she told me no, they had already sent him back to class. 
As for the asthma you should make an issue of it, get a Dr's note and bring it to the school. Maybe you could see if you can get a standing note for him to miss sometimes, at his age you probably are aware about when he really needs to get medical help since you've been dealing with it so long.
Get a Doctor's evaluation of your son's condition in the school records, including his allergies and sensitivities. I am surprised that you are required to provide a Dr.'s note. That requirement is usually triggered by excessive absentism, and this is early in the school year.
I am also surprised that the teacher has been spraying insecticides. That sort of thing is normally taken care of by other district personnel. What kind of insect problem does your district have?
Why would the teacher 'take it out' on your child if you sent a simple note to him/her about your child's allergies- that's no biggie? As far as the child who wears perfume. There isn't much that can be done about that. That child's parents either don't care about the perfume use or don't know about it. So the note from the teacher to the parents about perfume wearing is a waste of paper. The best I could have managed was seating your son as far away from the 'stinky' kid as possible.
Just out of curiousity, but has the school been tested for mold.. We had this problem last year with my son's elementary school.. so we had it tested and when the school board decided not to do anything about it we called the news stations.. Then they had too. They had to close the school for a few weeks but it was taken care of.. He still had problems at the school after that but they weren't as severe as they were... Luckily he graduated to the middle school (it's new this year) and we haven't had any problems this year.
Wow that's crazy. If my kids are out sick all I have to do is call the school and unless they are out for more than 3 days they don't need a Dr's note. (they don't even enforce it if the child is out longer, really)
They don't want us sending our kids to school sick.
As far as the teacher, make sure she/he knows that your child is asthmatic. Would she want to be the one who makes him have an asthma attack? I bet she would feel pretty badly about it. She should not be spraying anything in the classroom. Period.
Good Luck to you and I hope your son feels better.
PS I would send a note to the Principal making him aware of your son's medical condition (I'm sure the nurse is aware) and the fact that his teacher is using pesticides in the classroom.
~~~~Diane~~~~
As a teacher, maybe I can lend a little perspective from the other side of the argument. You say it's the 3rd week of school, right? So this teacher does not know your son well yet? Does she know about his health problems? If not, don't be so quick to place blame before you tell her everything. The pesticides are separate issue, however, and I agree with you there. But maybe a phone call or a conference should precede getting a lawyer involved. Doesn't that seem a little drastic? It scares me that people are so quick to jump on the lawsuit bandwagon...
Why will it make it worse for your son if you talk to the teacher? If there were some way I could help one of my students (and I have 135 of them), I would love to know about it, especially if it is health-related. I have similar allergy/asthma problems to what it sounds like your son has, so I can empathize with the situation.
All of the suggestions to get a doctor's note put in your son's file and making sure the school is informed of everything health-related are good ones. Again, how can you place blame on the school, particularly the teacher, when she may not know any of this? The home-school relationship is one of the most important parts of every child's success. That can only be maintained with communication. I was troubled by the school vs. home theme I was feeling from this discussion. It shouldn't have to be that way. Sorry for rambling on, and I can only speak generically, because I am not your son's teacher, but I can only encourage you to work WITH the school to assure your son's health and happiness while he is there. I'm sure you all have the same goal in mind.
I hope your son is feeling better, and that everything works out with his school!
I didn't see it mentioned so I wanted to add that you should call and set up an appoinment with the school nurse. Just talk with her and make her aware of your sons conditions so that she knows what to expect when she sees him and how best to handle it. Our school nurse encourages all the parents to stop by and chat with her if we need to.
I currently homeschool.
I wanted to homeschool from the get-go, but I married a man from a family of schoolteachers, so after much discussion, my children were enrolled in public school as they came of age.
My son has health problems. When he gets sick, he doesn't do it halfway. He doesn't tend to miss one day, he misses three or more, sometimes five at a whack. How was I to know that after a child misses ten days in one year, child protective services is called. I'll tell you how I found out. I found out when they knocked on my door.
After much fighting with the school district, who wouldn't listen to me when I complained, cajolled, and pled, I withdrew my children from school, and we have been happily home-schooling for five years.
Man, I hope you can get your situation worked out. Me, I could go on forever about schools, so I will drop it now.
I homeschool also for this very reason among others. My son has allergies and sinus infections quite frequently. He would more than likely miss more than 10 days of school as he runs a fever with them. Other mornings he wakes up vomiting. Generally it's from going to bed on an empty stomach when he has a sinus infection. By afternoon he's fine. But here again if he has vomited within 24 hours he cannot attend school. My dd isn't old enough yet for school but she has heart problems as well as a tendency to get weird viruses. Currently she has a virus that causes her to break out into hives. They wouldn't allow her into the school either because of the rash and she's had it for 5 days and may continue to have it 5 more days according to her doc.
If I were you, and you haven't had the test done. Get the test done that tells you everything he is allergic to. Give a copy to the teacher and to the nurse as well as one for his permanent record. Each year I'd make sure the new teacher received one as well. This way, you would know for sure they knew about his problems. I have about 1 1/2 years left of schooling to finish my teaching degree and one of the things they stressed was looking over each child's files. And keeping good communication with the parents. Unfortunately I think some teachers lose sight of that. But please inform her of the problems.
I have to agree with the good communication between home and teachers. I may be a squeaky wheel, but I never go into the school with both guns drawn (unless it is that useless principal!). The teachers my kids have had, with the ecception of my son's second grade teacher) have been fantastic! My kids know that I can and will pop in their classrooms at any time and the teachers know that when I do I am there to help them as well as checking on my kids. Teachers know that I can be thier best friend or thier worst enemy and so far, with three kids, I have only had one teacher that I had to gun down (special ed teacher at that!).
Communicate and follow up on your communications.
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