Recently, D wrote: "I am having a very rough time with my son's school Health Suite (teachers are wonderful) ...Is there anything that my other half and I can do to reassure them that if (he) just does something like cough, that is not a reason to panic?"

I put the question to Alicia Mezu, health services specialist with the Maryland state Department of Education. She said the first step, if you're having trouble communicating with the school health suite, is to try to make an appointment with your school nurse, which I agree might allow for better understanding than talking by phone with a sick child in the background.

She also sent a list of tips and links on school health for parents. Among the highlights:

--Curious about immunization requirements for your kids? Here's a Q and A.

--Here are links to some of the laws and policies governing health in schools, such as physical examination rules and medication disbursement.

--Here are state guidelines on how almost any kind of condition is handled in the schools. But you should still know your specific school's policies.

Finally, I'll add this: If the nurse is calling about your son's cough, clarify with her what it really is she's asking of you. She may not be expecting you to take the child home; she may just be concerned that he's not feeling well. Once I had a call like this -- the nurse asked if I knew my daughter had a cough. Of course I did, and initially I felt called out as a bad parent; I had decided that morning that my daughter was well enough to go to school. So I asked if the nurse was sending her home, and she said no.

When I got off the phone and thought about it, I realized the nurse was just trying to keep a busy mom clued in to her child. Which, in the end, I appreciated.