Overview of Public Health Services Provided to Schools and Daycares

Communicable Disease Control

Public Health staff work with schools and daycares in an effort to limit the spread of disease and to reduce absenteeism by: 

• Working with staff when disease outbreaks occur to identify and implement measures to curtail the outbreak.
• Assisting staff to develop communicable disease prevention and surveillance plans to minimize disease and health nuisances that may disrupt attendance (i.e. food-borne illnesses, influenza, head lice, scabies, etc.). 
• Providing guidance with State-required immunization status reports. 
• Providing two food safety inspections each year to schools with kitchens licensed to prepare school lunches.
  • The first inspection is a facility inspection where food temperatures are taken and the condition of the kitchen is noted.
  • The second inspection is a Food Safety Program Inspections using HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) principles.
• Provide inspections at the schools that provide a swimming pool.               

Health Promotion

Public Health staff act as a resource related to health promotion by:

• Providing information that enhance the health of the community (i.e. community wellness programs, etc.) or that may contribute to curriculum (i.e. local incidence of sexually transmitted infections, hand washing, safe food handling, Healthy Sheboygan County  initiatives such as activity and nutrition, alcohol, tobacco, drugs, mental health, etc.).
• Providing information via Public Health Alerts, newsletters, and the Division of Public Health website regarding issues of immediate concern.
• Sharing educational resources and screening equipment for school use (i.e. hand washing education materials, tobacco education materials, blood borne pathogen materials, vision and hearing equipment, etc.).
• Acting as a community resource for pregnant teens through the provision of Public Health Nurse visits.

The scope of practice within the Sheboygan County Division of Public Health does not allow for the delegation of nursing acts to school or daycare personnel (i.e. insulin injection, tube feedings, dressing changes, catheterizations, etc.) or routine visits for the purpose of health promotion or consultation. School District board-hired or contracted School Nurse(s) are prepared to meet the unique or special health care needs of individual students in the school setting and have been found to be an effective health resource for the school community.

To contact a public health staff member related to school/daycare health issue please call (920) 459-3207 or  email public.health@sheboygancounty.com.

DPI Student Services

3/28/2023