MCPS lice policy = ignore

[Anonymous]

So my kids, 1st and 3rd grade, and I get lice at least once a year because they county "can't" do anything about it. I don't understand and it is making me furious! The aftercare does an awesome job of checking for lice and sending kids home, but it is way beyond their control, as they can't check every kid in the school or try to decontaminate the classrooms. This is a basic hygiene issue for me so I don't quite get what the issue is - ie there are bugs at the school, solve the problem as a pre-school would (not hygiene in the showering/dirty sense) Kids/I miss at least 3 days of work/school a year for something that is solvable. The current situation is that only the aftercare kids get checked/sent home on a regular basis, but the cycle continues b/c there is no policy about dealing with the rest of the school population.

I am about to lose my shit on this because it is so inane.

[Anonymous]

We switched from a private - where there were multiple lice scares a year - to public where we've had none so far.

knock wood

They can only bag their items as they enter and mandate that children not share hats, brushes/combs, etc.

[Anonymous]

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/policy/pdf/jpbrb.pdf

I just read the MCPS lice policy in the link above. Where does it say that the school ignores? The parent has to demonstrate that the child is being treated before returning to school.

[Anonymous]

You want the school to check every kid for lice regularly?

We have had lice twice, and I understand that it's awful, but really, just like with any other communicable thing, all you can do is try to prevent your own children from getting it. Check them regularly, keep their hair short or up (braids, buns, etc.), tell them not to share hats or touch heads. And maybe use a shampoo with tea tree oil or rosemary oil; I don't know if that helps, but it can't hurt.

[Anonymous]

This was a pretty helpful article on the Post the other day about lice. Hope this helps OP

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/health/myths-about-head-lice/index.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/policy/pdf/jpbrb.pdf

I just read the MCPS lice policy in the link above. Where does it say that the school ignores? The parent has to demonstrate that the child is being treated before returning to school.

I received a call just last month from our MCPS school. Sigh, *die from embarrassment*. I hate lice, but it seems to be a grade school thing.

Luckily this time only my daughter had them.

[Anonymous]

POst article says keeping kids home does little good for controlling outbreaks in the school.

[Anonymous]

It is illegal to just march every student in the school and check them for lice just because you are in hysterics, OP.

[Anonymous]

My ES did it years ago..but in reality it is diffiicult to catch a beginning case in large numbers of kids. You might be looking for 2 nits. It would be better if all parents routinely combed through their kids hair looking for a problem (though I know this will nto happen). Otherwise by the time it is evident, the child has likely had it for at least a month. My DD has had it 2x. No one else in the house every had it...

[Anonymous]

This is OP. They could at least notify parents that there is an outbreak, right now it is the aftercare and word of mouth among parents. Apparently it has been going around for two weeks, though I am just hearing about it now. And why would checking every kid for lice be illegal? At my elementary school in the 80s they did it periodically, what is the big deal? Also, the school does nothing to treat it in the classrooms so the cycle continues.

[Anonymous]

The biggest culprit is shared headphones used for computers. Just FYI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is illegal to just march every student in the school and check them for lice just because you are in hysterics, OP.

When I was a kid they did this all the time. The nurse would come every month or so and check every kid. It was really awful for the poor kid who got pulled out because there was no hiding the reason. Is it now considered illegal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. They could at least notify parents that there is an outbreak, right now it is the aftercare and word of mouth among parents. Apparently it has been going around for two weeks, though I am just hearing about it now. And why would checking every kid for lice be illegal? At my elementary school in the 80s they did it periodically, what is the big deal? Also, the school does nothing to treat it in the classrooms so the cycle continues.

You don't need to treat the classrooms. Read the Washington Post article the PP linked!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. They could at least notify parents that there is an outbreak, right now it is the aftercare and word of mouth among parents. Apparently it has been going around for two weeks, though I am just hearing about it now. And why would checking every kid for lice be illegal? At my elementary school in the 80s they did it periodically, what is the big deal? Also, the school does nothing to treat it in the classrooms so the cycle continues.

You don't need to treat the classrooms. Read the Washington Post article the PP linked!

They can survive off of the scalp for up to 2 days so I would agree that the school should be treating the classrooms if there is a safe and effective way to do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The biggest culprit is shared headphones used for computers. Just FYI.

Oof. I hadn't thought of this. Are kids allowed to bring personal headphones?