Mokena School District 159 continues to monitor the spread of COVID-19 in our region and in our local community. The District will also monitor student attendance and nurse's office data to ensure that any potential exposure risk to COVID-19 is mitigated to the greatest extent possible. The safety of our students is our top priority.

The symptoms of COVID-19 are fever (100.4°F or higher), the new onset of a moderate to severe headache, shortness of breath, a new cough, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, a new loss of sense of taste or smell, fatigue from an unknown cause, and muscle or body aches from an unknown cause. Nasal congestion and most other seasonal allergy symptoms are NOT considered a sign of COVID-19 by the IDPH.

If your child has one or more of the COVID-19 symptoms they must be excluded from school for a minimum of 5 days after symptom onset unless the child can demonstrate a negative COVID-19 test result. Close contacts to individuals with COVID-19 are no longer required to quarantine from school, although mask wearing for close contacts is strongly recommended for 10 days.

If you perform a COVID-19 test at home the test may be used to allow a student to return to school. A photo of the test can be used to provide documentation of the negative test result. Documentation is required in order to return before 5 days have passed.

You can access more information on COVID-19 guidelines from the IDPH at the links below. Please feel free to contact your child’s school nurse if you have any questions regarding your child’s health.

Resource Links:

• Illinois Department of Public Health - COVID-19 Resources for Schools

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - COVID-19 Resources for Schools, Child Care, and Colleges

• Illinois COVID Data by ZIP Code (Northwestern University)

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - COVID-19 Data Tracker (Will County)