It's difficult to have one answer that covers all situations but our goal is to do our best to try to have the healthiest environment we can for all students, and sometimes that means a student staying home so they can fully recover and so other students in class can participate without risk of becoming ill or injured as well.
One of the positives that came from our experience of being a small business through a pandemic is we found that having less family members in the lobby during classes keeps our instructors healthier, which means we can provide a better experience for our students
Prior to the pandemic, families would keep sick students at home, but sick parents and/or sick siblings were often in our lobby, and we had less than planned for instructors almost every day due to illness
Since we changed our policy to allow only one person total per family of students in the current class to be inside, with that one person being only a parent/guardian, we rarely have instructors out due to illness. Again that means more instructors available to provide a better experience for our students. We understand it isn't "perfect" but we feel healthier instructors and students is worth it.
Conditions requiring bandaging need more than just a band-aid. Students perspire and band-aids slide off. In addition to a band-aid a medical "sleeve" type item or medical wrapping gauze/tape/etc are needed to ensure bandages stay in place. If just one toe or one finger needs wrapped, the wrapping also needs to go around the palm of the hand or the foot a couple of times to keep the bandaging from sliding off. We do reserve the right to ask for a medical release from your doctor for you to participate.
What we think of as "typical" seasonal issues: mild coughing, mild colds and allergies most likely will not require a doctor's statement to return to class, but a student with a strong persistent cough, a cold or allergies who has mucus running from their nose and/or puffy eyes with tears running down their face probably isn't going to have the best experience in class and should probably be resting at home until they can participate a little more "dryly". Fever and/or flu-like symptoms: If a student currently or within the past 24 hours has had an above normal temperature, been vomiting, had diarrhea ... they need to stay home to rest and recover. If a student has an injury (typically from activities away from our tkd school) we do want a doctor statement indicating when they may participate.
Students with casts, wraps, etc MAY still be able to participate in class.
Chicken pox, lice and other contagious issues ... stay home until the full course of the illness or treatment has been completed; if there is a rash on the skin we may require a doctor's statement that it is fine for the student to return to class, and any rash site must be covered throughout class. Poison Ivy: As long as any bumps have been washed thoroughly and the area is wrapped well, the student can participate.
Warts: As long as the site has been cleaned and is wrapped well, the student can participate. Warts thrive in warm moist conditions like swimming pool bathrooms, gym locker rooms. Because we workout in very cool temperatures at our school and use a commercial disinfectant to clean, the odds of warts being transferred from one student to another in our school are extremely rare, but we still want them kept covered/wrapped. It's also good to treat warts, whether with an over-the-counter product that you've found to be successful or something recommended by your doctor.
Skin Rashes: Because rashes can be the result of so many different things (external and internal) we require students to:
● keep all areas of the rash covered once the doctor has provided a release to participate in class again (we don't want germs from other students to get in any open areas of the rash, which could lead to infection) And if the rash includes any open blisters or sores we also require students to:
● get checked out by their doctor
Too Tired: sometimes you or your child are just too tired to be able to really participate in class. It may seem like a good idea to just suck it up and go anyway, but a student who is tired doesn't make a good partner, isn't focused and probably isn't really learning or improving today. And they are more likely to injure themselves or others because they are less focused. It's probably better to stay home and rest up so they are able to more fully participate in class the next time.
