School is supposed to be a safe place, a place where your child will learn and socialize and thrive, but sometimes it becomes a place where your child just mostly feels, well, sick. And it’s not always just something he caught from the sick kid in the seat next to him. There can be a plethora of allergens at schools, and any one of them can be causing a reaction in your child.

Most people that worry about allergies and school worry about food allergies. They worry about cross contaminated food either from the cafeteria or from their child’s classmates. But what about inhaled allergens? What happens when your child is well all summer, or during winter break, even the weekends, and then he comes home on Monday after school and has dark circles under his eyes or complains of a headache or runny nose and sniffles when he is at school? What if school performance is affected? You know your child can do better; he knows the material at home but somehow can’t show it at school? Here are just a few things that may be causing allergies at school.

• Is there a class pet? Even one in another room that your child sometimes visits can cause allergic reactions. You don’t have to ban the pet from school (though one in your child’s class probably isn’t a good idea) but if it’s another room, try limiting your child’s time there and make sure if your child is there that the animal is put away and the teacher’s hands have been washed.
• Is food kept in the classroom? This can cause a presence of bugs, even rodents. Cockroaches are a huge allergen, not only the bug itself but the debris it leaves behind. If there is food in the class for a special event, the room needs to be thoroughly cleaned to prevent bugs and rodents. You hate to think of these things in your child’s school, but well, it happens.
• What about renovations? These can stir up a lot of dust and debris, which can exacerbate allergies. If renovations are going on, especially at the beginning of the year, request that your child be put in a class far from the site of renovations. Most are done over the summer breaks, but as we all know, they are not always finished on schedule.
• There have been cases of kids having severe allergy problems at school and after investigation, very high mold counts have been found in the school buildings. If you suspect this, ask your administrators and/or county officials for information and a possible investigation.

You never know what may be lurking in your schools, but you do know your child. These are just a few of the culprits in the allergy world you may find in school, but we all know there are many others. It’s not just the food allergy parents who need to be vigilant. If your gut tells you something, follow up on it. Go to administrators and county officials, sometimes they can actually do something.

Source: http://www.nationalguidelines.org/guideline.cfm?guideNum=6-13