Sending kids home whether it's swine flu or sniffles

So Carter's school has put in a new policy this year in an attempt deal with the swine flu. It goes like this: if your child has a fever or a runny nose or is coughing, they get sent home for the rest of the day. If they have any of those symptoms in the afternoon, they're also required to stay home the following day as well.

I totally understand that schools around the Country are trying to protect their students - our children - from the swine flu as best they can and are implementing some of these new policies to do so.

At first, I was very happy with the new policy implemented by Carter's school. It seemed logical that if any kids were showing the signs of swine flu that they should be removed from school so they didn't get everyone else sick. The first time I was asked to come pick Carter up because he was the one exhibiting symptoms, I thought, "No problem, glad they're on top of it".

However, one month, two trips to the doctor and four missed days of work later, I'm starting to have second thoughts about the new policies.

The problem we've been running into is that when Carter has a runny nose, we get the call to pick him up because it's a "symptom" of swine flu. When he has a cough, it's a "symptom". When he wakes up from a nap and is warm with a low grade fever, it's a "symptom". All of these mean that we not only have to leave work early to take him home, but have to take the following day off as well.

Needless to say, this is causing some issues at home and work. My fear is that at this rate we could run out of vacation time before the year is out. Not to mention that we're paying for day care we aren't able to use.

It's a tough line to walk of course. I obviously wouldn't want other kids in Carter's room who had swine flu to get him or anyone else sick, nor do I want Carter to infect his friends, but we can't keep up the pace of our own child being sent home once a week because he's got a "symptom" of the swine flu.

I've heard other parents at Carter's school express their own frustration about the new policies and how they think staff - most of whom have no medical training outside of CPR - are over reacting to the slightest sniffle or cough. Staff are in an uncomfortable position as well because they're just following the policies sent down by school administration. School administrators are probably enacting such tough policies with a "better safe than sorry" attitude.

It's probably not a long shot to say that everyone in the process has some degree of frustration. But as it's only the first official month of what could be a very long flu season, I don't see how it's possible for things to continue without some changes.

What are your thoughts? Is anyone else dealing with an overzealous swine flu policy with their schools? Or is what Carter's school doing completely reasonable?