Health Nurse
Immunizations
For school enrollment, a parent or guardian shall provide one of the following:
- Current, up-to-date immunization records; or
- A completed and signed exemption form (download located here).
The Washington County Health Department will give immunizations free of charge. If additional immunizations are needed, please call to schedule an appointment at 918-335-3005.
Immunization requirements in Oklahoma for K-12 are as follows:
5 DTaP
4 Polio
2 MMR
3 Hepatitis B
2 Hepatitis A
1 Varicella
1 Tdap (7th-12th)
Please direct any questions to Joni Javellas
Vision Screening
Vision screening is underway in the elementary building. All students PreK-5th Grade will be screened in an effort to identify potential difficulties. According to research by Prevent Blindness America, one in four school-aged children has a vision impairment that can cause permanent loss of sight if left untreated. About 90% of all eye injuries and 50% of all cases of blindness are preventable if we teach children to take proper precautions.
School Health Service Program
The School Nurse will conduct vision screenings, hearing screenings and other student assessments as deemed necessary. Oklahoma school nurses provide screening to find children with possible curvature of the spine (scoliosis). Screening will take place during physical education class. Remember these are only screenings. A letter will be sent to parents if further evaluation is recommended.
Illness and Injury
If your child becomes ill or injured at school, the nurse may attempt to call you. It is very important to keep at least two emergency numbers on file in the office. Please notify the school at once if your telephone number changes-either at home or at work. School personnel do not transport sick children home.
Medication
Most medication schedules can be arranged so that medicine can be given at home. Children requiring medication during school hours will abide by the following guidelines:
All medication to be given during school hours on a ‘routine’ or ‘as needed’ basis must have proper authorization from parent/guardian and be on file in the office of the school nurse. With such authorization, the school nurse or the nurse designee may administer a nonprescription or a filled prescription medicine according to administration directions listed on the label. All such medications MUST BE IN THE ORIGINAL CONTAINER, BOTTLE OR UNIT DOSE or will not be dispensed and may be discarded.
In 2022, Oklahoma passed a law that allows your child's school to maintain and administer an albuterol inhaler to treat students who experience sudden life threatening respiratory distress while at school. Albuterol is an inhaled medication that quickly opens the tubes that move air into and out of the lungs making it easier to breathe. This medication is safe and effective. Because an asthma attack can happen at any time, having quick access to albuterol is important to make schools safe for children with asthma.
Multiple staff members from your child's school have been trained to quickly and safely respond to respiratory emergencies. While school staff will make every effort to contact parents/guardians before giving albuterol, the law allows them to administer albuterol in an emergency without prior parent/guardian contact.
If your child has asthma, we urge you to notify your child's school and provide them with an asthma action plan from your child's doctor. Because the stock albuterol inhaler is not intended to replace a child's personal inhaler, we also encourage you to send a personal albuterol inhaler for use at school if your child has asthma.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our school Nurse, Joni Javellas at 918-534-2241 Ext. 1415 or by email at jljavellas@deweyk12.org.
General Health
Students should be sent to school in good general health and cleanliness and be properly fed and rested. Frequently children complain of a headache, stomachache or sore throat before going to school, placing the parent in a dilemma as to whether the child is ill or just ‘nervous’ about an upcoming event. Certainly if your child has had diarrhea, vomiting or a temperature greater than 100° he/she should be kept home. The temperature of your child must be less than 100° for a 24hour period, without giving medication to control the temperature, before sending him/her back to school. Parents should not send their child to school if they have a contagious illness (such at pink eye, chicken pox, head lice or scabies). If you are unsure, please accompany your child to the office of the school nurse between 8:00 and 8:30am, and the determination will be made at that time. Caution must be exercised to not exceed the allowable absences, 10 absences per semester.
Meningitis/Meningococcal Disease:
What is meningitis?
Meningitis is an inflammation of the tissues that cover the brain and spinal cord. Bacteria, viruses, or fungi may cause meningitis. Viral meningitis is the most common form of meningitis and is caused by an infection with one of several types of viruses. Meningococcal meningitis is caused by the bacteria Neisseria meningitidis, and causes a more severe disease that requires prompt treatment of the patient with antibiotics. There are other types of bacterial meningitis, so it is important to confirm which type of bacteria is causing the meningitis to determine if antibiotics are needed to prevent possible illness in exposed people.
Information regarding meningitis symptoms, causes, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment can be found in our public health sheets located in the building offices as well as the following online resources:
Oklahoma State Dept. of Health - Meningitis