Lice Outbreak: Any regulations or suggestions

[Anonymous]

Our kid is at Mundo Verde and there seems to be an ongoing lice outbreak in the school. Is this common city-wide? I'm not being alarmist- it never ends.

There is a continuous discussion from the parents when this arises on a parent listserve but that does not seem to stem the outbreak. Earlier, as one parent summarizes the schools response is that for them to get involved it was "deemed inappropriate, not cost effective, and some had concerns about stigmatizing"...

This can't be it. Really? Do schools no longer check each child in the classroom to identify the infested kids so they can get assistance?

Is there a city level health department that can be of some assistance?

Thanks all.

[Anonymous]

It is pretty common at our charter. Usually gets confined to 1 or 2 classrooms. It's not that big of a deal.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like they're acting in keeping with the AAP guidelines for lice.

[Anonymous]

Once the boundaries and feeders change all the kids will get lice.

[Anonymous]

This year lice is worse than it was last year at my child's school - not MV.

General experience with lice outbreak is:
Child is identified. The child can not return until they are nit free.

The school will not share who has it - that is a violation of privacy information - Similar to how they do not share who has strep when they send home those notices.

Other schools have parent lice checkers - who check every child each morning to limit the outbreak.

So - what can you do as a parent? Help the school make sure that nap items are stored in a way that lice will not move across sheets. Are there rugs, chairs that the children lay down on? Over the weekend any nits should die b/c they need to have a source of blood in 48 hours or will die. So 1st thing tomorrow - vacume all the dead nits in the rugs / chairs etc.

You can spray your child's hair with a conditioner that deters lice. I am not sure if it really works - but something you can try.

[Anonymous]

@ MV- the school is not identifying the kids. Parents may post a "my child has it" not on the parent listserve and then some parents may look at their own kids. If a parent is not on the list, does not get the electronic newsletter- then they may not know. Or if they can't afford the treatment.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the help all! It's helpful to know we are not alone. It would be helpful if the school was more active though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:@ MV- the school is not identifying the kids. Parents may post a "my child has it" not on the parent listserve and then some parents may look at their own kids. If a parent is not on the list, does not get the electronic newsletter- then they may not know. Or if they can't afford the treatment.

I assume it is DC regulations that a message needs to go home to all children on paper regadless if a family has opted out of paper distribution for other messages. I say this b/c our school sends paper home when there is a case - and I am on the electronic distribution for all other school communications.

[Anonymous]

I think having a parent team to go through kids hair at regular intervals (after long breaks where kids may have been at camp) and having a "no nit" policy works. Treatment does not need to be expensive, no toxic treatments work such as Pantene and a really good nit comb (licemeister). Google can give treatment protocols. I like a pair of magnifying goggles, a nit comb, a pair of scissors and some good light. You have to do the follow up combing for two weeks.

I find tang a pair

[Anonymous]

Who said every parent wants another parent in their child's hair? Who knows what that parent has going on with their own body/mind.

There would have to have an opt out.

[Anonymous]

My MoCo school will not ntoify anyone until 4 families report it to the school and since many families do not report..by the time it is announced it is likely most of the class has it. Before our school added lockers there was a huge problem with coat racks.

[Anonymous]

At our JKLM we have teams of parents that check all kids after holiday breaks.

Last year there was a persistent outbreak in my child's K class and a team of 3 parents (I was one of them) worked with the school nurse to check every child in that class weekly for 5 weeks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At our JKLM we have teams of parents that check all kids after holiday breaks.

Last year there was a persistent outbreak in my child's K class and a team of 3 parents (I was one of them) worked with the school nurse to check every child in that class weekly for 5 weeks.

JKLM parent here too. our school send a message home to all kids in a class the same day one child in the class is found with lice, so the other parents can check their kids. all kids in the class are also immediately checked by the nurse. the child who had head lice can come back to school only when it is nit free, and he/she is checked by the nurse before being admitted to the class again. I think the information the school sends hoe is really important so parents can check their kids and keep them home if they are infested. at the beginning of the year the entire school is checked by the nurse and parents volunteering for it. two or three years ago, after a nasty outbreak that seemed to keep coming back, the PTA hired a service who came to the school, checked all kids, gave handouts on what to do when your child has head lice and what to do to limit the risk, and trained volunteers to check the kids. we never had another bad outbreak like that after that time. kids are also checked throughout the year, especially after holidays

I made through my k-12 years without ever getting head lice. when three years ago my DD got them at school, even my DH and I had to be checked (we did not have them) and do the treatment. it was really strange to be in my 40's and suddenly to find myself back to the headlice scare, something I thought I left behind a long (unfortunately!) time ago

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who said every parent wants another parent in their child's hair? Who knows what that parent has going on with their own body/mind.

There would have to have an opt out.

Regular lice checks are standard protocol at my child's DCPS. In fact, there is an entire PTA committee devoted to it. No one has ever asked my permission. I'm glad they do it.

[Anonymous]

Charter parent here: we had terrible persistent outbreaks for the past 2 years but it isn't as bad (so far) this year.