A Homeschool Co-op Sick Policy, With a Template to Copy

A co-op sick policy answers three questions. Which symptoms keep a child at home? How long does a family wait before coming back? And what happens when a child falls ill during the morning? Public health bodies don't all draw the line in the same place. HSLDA suggests 24 hours symptom-free without medication, and the NHS says 48 hours after vomiting or diarrhea. So each co-op chooses its own numbers, writes them down and follows local health advice. There's a short template below to copy and change.

If you're still writing your first rules, the co-op rules article has a one-page agreement with a single line on illness. This page is for when you want that line to say more.

What is the sick policy for a homeschool co-op?

There's no single rule. Each co-op writes its own, usually with one eye on what a health body or a local school says. Here is where some of those bodies draw the line:

Source	Keep home with	Come back when
HSLDA (for homeschool groups)	Fever above 100.4°F (38°C), vomiting, diarrhea, a persistent cough, sore throat or unexplained rash	Symptom-free for at least 24 hours without medication
American Academy of Pediatrics (school)	Fever above 101°F in the past 24 hours, vomiting or diarrhea in the past 24 hours, or too unwell to take part	Those no longer apply
CDC (respiratory viruses)	A respiratory illness	For at least 24 hours, symptoms improving and any fever gone without fever-reducing medicine
NHS (UK)	A high temperature (38°C or more)	Once the temperature has gone
NHS (UK)	Vomiting or diarrhea	At least 48 hours after the last episode
healthdirect (Australia)	Diarrhea	24 hours without symptoms if no cause is found, or 48 hours until a cause is known

The AAP adds that families should always follow their local school, district or state guidance, which may differ. That's good advice for a co-op too. If your state or local health department publishes exclusion times for schools, read them before you write your own.

How long should children stay home after a fever, vomiting or diarrhea?

Choose one number for each and use it every time.

After a fever, 24 hours is the most common choice, and it matches both HSLDA and the CDC. The words that matter are "without fever-reducing medicine". A child who's been given something for a temperature at breakfast can look perfectly well at circle and be flushed and miserable by painting time.

After vomiting or diarrhea, co-ops split. Some use 24 hours, in line with the AAP and HSLDA. Others ask for longer. The NHS says 48 hours. One co-op's handbook asks for 48 hours after vomiting or diarrhea, and another asks for 72 hours after a stomach bug. A tummy bug moves quickly through a small group that shares a snack bowl and a basket of wool, so many groups choose the longer wait.

Coughs and runny noses are harder. The NHS says a child with a slight cough or cold can go to school if they're otherwise well and don't have a high temperature. The AAP says a runny nose, whatever its color, doesn't need to keep a child home from child care if they feel well enough to take part. Some co-ops still ask families to stay home with a heavy cough, especially if there's a new baby in the group. Say which way yours leans.

Antibiotics: one co-op asks families to wait 24 hours after the first dose, another 48. If you include this, keep it short.

Can siblings attend co-op if one child is sick?

Co-ops differ here. One co-op's policy asks, "If someone in your household is sick, please do not bring the rest of the crew." Another asks everyone in the household to be symptom-free for 72 hours after a stomach bug. A third leaves it to the parent, asking them to use caution about whether the rest of the family comes.

There's no right answer, only a clear one. A group with several babies, a pregnant parent or a child with a weak immune system may choose to keep the whole family home. A group of older children may leave it to the parent. Talk it over at your planning meeting and write down what you agreed.

What happens if a child gets sick during co-op?

In a parent-led co-op this is simpler than at school, because the parent is already there. Two co-op handbooks we read say the family will be told straight away. One asks a parent who's leaving early with an unwell child to tell a leader before they go.

A few small things help on the day:

• A quiet corner. A cushion, a blanket and a glass of water, away from the others, where the child can rest with their parent until they leave.
• Hands washed. The CDC's advice is to scrub for at least 20 seconds, including after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing, and before eating. Do it before snack, and after tidying the corner.
• A job handed over. If the parent was telling the main lesson story or leading handwork, someone else picks it up. It helps to have a named backup for each job on your parent job schedule.
• A message to the group, if something catching goes home. Keep it short and don't name the child. Your group chat or email list is the place.

Medicines and allergies

HSLDA suggests that parents give medicines themselves wherever they can. If a child needs a dose during the group, the parent fills in a permission form with the dose, the time and any instructions. HSLDA also asks families to tell the group about allergies when they register, and suggests that leaders learn how to respond to a severe reaction.

Allergies belong somewhere else, though. They sit with your emergency contacts and first aid kit, and the co-op emergency plan article covers them.

A sick policy template to copy

Change the numbers and the wording to suit your group. Brackets are for your own details.

Our sick policy

1. Please stay home with a temperature of [100.4°F / 38°C] or more. The same goes for vomiting, diarrhea, an unexplained rash or [a heavy cough]. This applies to parents too.
2. Come back when you've been free of fever for [24] hours without fever-reducing medicine, and free of vomiting or diarrhea for [48] hours.
3. Brothers and sisters: if one child is sick, [the whole family stays home / use your judgement and let us know].
4. Antibiotics: wait [24] hours after the first dose.
5. Tell us by [8am] if you're not coming, and find someone to cover your job if you can.
6. If your child becomes unwell at co-op, take them to the quiet corner, tell [the coordinator] and head home.
7. If something catching goes home, the coordinator lets families know, without naming the child.
8. Medicines: please give them yourself. If a dose is needed during co-op, fill in the medicine form.
9. We follow local health advice. If our state or local health department says something different, we follow that. If you're unsure about your own child, ask your doctor.
10. We review this at the start of each year.

Put it in your co-op handbook and read it aloud once, early in the year, when nobody is ill and no one feels singled out.

Keeping it kind

A sick policy is easy to write and harder to live with. The parent who keeps a child home has lost a morning they may have been looking forward to all week, and the child has missed the next part of the story.

A few small things soften that. Let the parent who led the story send a short note of where it got to, so the child can hear it at home that afternoon. Save a piece of the handwork, or a painting board, for them. If the co-op keeps a festival that week, such as a lantern walk or a Michaelmas morning, save them a candle or a slice of dragon bread.

And when a family keeps the rule, even when it cost them, thank them. It's what makes the next family willing to do the same.

If you run your co-op on Starpath, the group calendar and job schedule sit in one place, so a family staying home can see who might swap with them. The co-ops and pods guide has more on how co-ops share the work. For how the rest of the morning stays safe, from headcounts to the bathroom rule, see the co-op safety policy.

This page describes what health bodies and co-ops have published. It isn't medical advice. For your own child, ask your doctor, and for your group, follow your local health department.