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409.5 Communicable Diseases

COMMUNICABLE DISEASES

 

The Board of Directors believes any employee of the district with a communicable disease should be allowed to attend to their customary employment duties as long as they are physically able to perform the tasks assigned to them and as long as their employment does not create a substantial risk of transmission of the illness to other students or employees in the district.  The Board will make every effort, in light of the circumstances surrounding the employee’s individual situation, to reasonably accommodate the continued employment of the employee.

 

The Board recognizes there may be greater risks for the transmission of a communicable disease for some persons with certain conditions than for other persons infected with the same disease.  These special conditions shall be considered in assessing the risk of transmission of the disease, the effect upon the educational program,  and the effect upon the employee’s continued employment.

 

It shall be the responsibility for the superintendent of schools to notify the proper authorities, such as the Iowa State Department of Health, in accordance with Iowa law when it is found that a communicable disease exists in the school setting.  The Department shall be requested to convene an Advisory Committee to review the case and to provide recommendations regarding the permissibility of continued performance of the employee’s customary employment duties.  It shall be the responsibility of the superintendent of schools to develop procedures for excluding employees with a communicable disease from attending to their customary employment duties.  These procedures shall be based on recommendations from public health agencies and the U.S. Public Health Center for Disease Control.

 

The Board realizes the importance to others of knowing which employees in the district have a communicable disease.  However, this must be weighed against the privacy and confidentiality rights of the employee.  Public concern regarding communicable diseases is neither an excuse nor a defense for the violation of the privacy rights of employees who have or are rumored to have a communicable disease.  Health data is regarded as private data, and it is not to be disseminated to the public, to the students, or to other employees in the district without strict observance of data privacy rights.  It shall be the responsibility of the superintendent of schools to develop procedures that will respect the employee’s privacy rights.  Knowledge that an employee has a communicable disease will be limited to the Board, the superintendent of schools, the school nurse, and to whomever else the Advisory Committee recommends.

 

The Board believes that a well informed public of citizens, employees, and students utilizing good hygiene practices will minimize the risk of transmission of the disease while protecting the rights of any infected staff.  It will be the responsibility of the superintendent of schools in conjunction with the school nurse to keep the public, staff, and students informed about all communicable disease and related issues.

 

 

Adopted:  January 12, 1987                    

 

Reviewed:  March 12, 2001
December 19, 2005
June 20, 2011
July 11, 2016