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Screening

Children shall be screened by the school nurse or other school official with consideration for privacy and confidentiality. Screenings may be scheduled or conducted at random throughout the year. When a student is suspected of having head lice, the school nurse or other school official shall inspect the child. When live lice are found, the school nurse or other school official shall check the student's siblings and all known household contacts on campus. Letters shall be sent to the parents of students with active infestations.

Children identified with live lice shall be sent home or excluded from the classroom until treatment is completed by the parents or guardians. The school nurse or other school official shall provide instruction to the parent and/or guardian regarding identification of active infestation, treatment procedures, and readmission guidelines.

Readmission

Children who are sent home for head lice infestation must be free of live lice and virtually all nits must be removed from the hair before the student may return to school. When a student has missed five consecutive days of school related to lice infestation, a warning letter shall be sent to the parent to notify them that the student is immediately required to be at school. With excessive absences, both the student and parent can be subject to truancy laws. Procedures are as follows:

1. When a student is examined by the school nurse or other school official and found to have head lice, the teacher or other office personnel shall be notified. The parent shall be notified, and the student shall be sent home with head lice treatment information.
2. When the student returns to school (presumably on the next day), the student shall be re-examined. If the student is free of lice and virtually nit-free, the student may return to class. If lice are found, the office and teacher shall be notified. The parent shall be notified and the student shall be sent home again for treatment, if it cannot be determined that treatment was done or with instructions for alternate treatments.
3. When the student returns to school for the second time, the student shall be re-examined. If the student is free of lice and virtually nit-free, the student may return to class. If lice are found, the office and teacher shall be notified and a referral shall be made to the nurse. The parent shall be notified, and the student shall be sent home with instructions from the nurse.
   

Surprising Things You Might Not Know About Head Lice

1. Head lice are not a sign of uncleanliness; they love clean hair because it is easier to latch on.
2. Lice DO NOT hop, jump, or fly; the only way they can get from one person to another is direct touching, head-to-head.
3. Lice are not passed on pets. The only place head lice can survive and thrive is on the human head.
4. When found, most cases of head lice are already more than a month old. One sign is a red itchy rash on the back of the neck, just below the hair line.
5. Because of use and overuse of head lice shampoos, head lice have become resistant to the products that once would kill them, so no head lice product is 100% effective, even if you follow the direction to the letter. That is why combing and nit removal is important.
6. Removing the nits (eggs) and live lice with a special metal-tooth comb is time consuming but the most effective way to get rid of them. They do not wash out.
7. Schools are not the most common places where head lice are spread. Sleep-overs among friends and relatives are thought to be a common way they are passed home to home.
8. School wide head checks are not recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics or the Centers for Disease Control. The most effective screening occurs when parents check their own children at home, treat if any are found, and make efforts to remove the nits.
9. One of the biggest challenges in eliminating head lice is parents' discomfort in communicating about the problem with other parents when they find head lice, so they are more easily passed back and forth among close friends and relatives.
10. A louse on a hat or coat is a dying louse that will not be capable of reproducing. Healthy ones stay close to the scalp until they sense another human head. They cannot survive without blood, that is why they bite.
    

Please check your child for lice/nits on a regular basis. "Checking" means visually observing the hair and combing it with a metal nit comb. Nits look like flakes of dandruff or droplets of hair spray. The difference is that dandruff or hair spray will come off easily when the hair shaft is shaken, whereas nits are very difficult to
remove. If you see lice or nits on your child's hair, call your health care provider for advice of treatment. If you aren't sure what you are looking for please contact school office. Most children should not need to miss any school because of lice.

This note is a reminder to be vigilant in checking your child's head.

See the research:

American Academy of Pediatrics

Centers for Disease Control