Got cold symptoms? Here's when kids should take a sick day from school

School attendance tanked during the pandemic and has only started to recover. One reason? Parents are struggling to decide when it’s ok to send a child to school while sick. During the pandemic, schools had strict COVID-19 protocols. Many parents kept kids home for days after they had a cough or fever. Schools and health experts are now saying it is OK to send children to class with some symptoms of illness, including a runny nose or cough. If your child has a fever, keep them home from school until the fever is gone for 24 hours without medication.