This is something that you need to take up with the school nurse and the administration. There could be an underlying problem that cannot be seen on the surface, or there could be a medical history. The sleeping and snoring obviously you can have a say in but the student obviously needs some help. I just think the right avenue is to get the professionals involved so they do their job and you can go back to teaching, which is yours. I appreciate your concern, and yes, a teacher’s job is more than standing in front of a class, it is also safety and well being of students. I just think this is a bigger elephant than you should have to bite off on your own.

I would talk to him and his parents and ask why they aren’t keeping him at home. You could suggest that he needs to see a doctor, but there might not be anything wrong with him, other than just having a virus. I work in an elementary school and since the beginning of October we’ve had strep throat, pneumonia, the flu, and colds going around. Most days lately, I have about 20% of my class away because of illness, In fact, I myself have been sick since November. As soon as I recover from one thing, I get another. Several of my students keep coming to school sick because they have been sick since November too, and they are missing too much school.

Suggest to the parents that he stay home, because he is passing his illnesses on to others.

Good luck!

When he comes in like that again, send him immediately to the school nurse; then, after school, talk to his parents, and find out why they are not sending him to their family physician.
To prevent him from getting up to get tissue, place the box of tissue directly on his desk.

Hmm..sounds like allergies to me, especially if he has it all the time…a cold or flu would pass in a week or so, but allergies can be aggravated by anything (pollen, dust, even perfume from another student in the room or the room inself (I once had to move out of an apartment I was allergic to, and I was a LOT like your student, sick and coughing all the time!)

I would approach him first, and just say “I’ve noticed you haven’t been feeling well, what’s going on?” and see what info you get from him.

I would also arrange for him to keep a box of tissue and possibly a bottle of water or mints to suck on at his desk, so he’s not getting up or coughing as much.

If you have a school nurse you can send him down there and she can refer him and the parents to get medical help.

If you don’t have a school nurse, contact the parents (together with the principal if this is possible) and explain the situation and let them know his illness is affecting his ability to do his best in class. Ask if they are awake of his problems. You might want to do some searching beforehand to see if there are any low-income or free clinics in your area, because if he’s not getting medical treatment it could be because they don’t have insurance, so if you have that info available for them they might be more apt to seek treatment. Or your state our county might have a special health plan for kids that they could enroll in.

Whichever route you choose, don’t just let it go. Whatever his condition, there are ways to treat it so that this poor kid doesn’t have to suffer anymore.

Ask the school nurse and principal to help with this. You don’t need to go calling the parents before you get some other opinions. He sounds like he definitly needs medical attention. Good luck!