When school starts, and after Christmas break each year, we will be checking for HEAD LICE! Please check your children prior to school starting and treat them if necessary. We will be checking as many heads as possible on the first day. With a great attempt we can control the amount of head lice to below the amount we have had in past years. Our NO NIT POLICY (see policy below) on head lice is in effect. Children with nits (eggs of the louse) will be sent home. They do not ride the school bus home. If you treat your child a day or two before school starts send a note to tell me so that we do not call you. All nits must be removed prior to the child's return to school.
453.41 HEAD LICE/NITS
Because the schools bring large numbers of children into close contact daily, they serve as a focal point for the transmission of all kinds of communicable diseases and head lice. Control depends upon prompt case finding, proper administrative handling of each case, effective treatment and treatment of its spread.
Therefore, specific guidelines have been developed for the treatment of head lice and/or nits (eggs of the louse) in the North Crawford School District. These guidelines include parent notification, treatment instructions and parent responsibilities.
Any student found to have head lice or head nits will be sent home from school for treatment in accordance with established guidelines.
LEGAL REF.: Sections 121.02(1)(1) Wisconsin Statutes
252.21
HSS 145, Wisconsin Administrative Code
CROSS REF.: 453.41?Rule, Guidelines for the Control and Treatment of Head Lice/Nits in the School
453.41?Exhibit(1), Letter to Parents
453.41?Exhibit(2), Head Lice Treatment Form I
453.41?Exhibit(3), Head Lice Treatment Form II
APPROVED: April 13, 2000
453.41 – Rule GUIDELINES FOR THE CONTROL AND TREATMENT OF HEAD LICE/NITS IN THE SCHOOLS
1. After summer and Christmas vacations, the school nurse, or his/her designee, will check all elementary students for head lice/nits. Students who enroll in school after the first day of school will be checked within the first week of their attendance. Head lice checks may be made periodically on any student as necessary during the school year. Head lice checks will be made on any student (no matter what grade) who lives in the same household as another student who has been found to have head lice or nits.
Any student found to have head lice will be removed from the classroom with his/her belongings to be transported home.
A no/nits policy will be in effect in the district. A student found to have head nits will be sent home. The only exception to this rule is the time period between the first and second shampoo treatment. CLEAR is a hair product that can be used for nit removal.
2. When a student is found to have head lice or nits, the parent(s)/ guardian and/or the listed emergency contact on the student's emergency card will be contacted so that he/she can come for the student. If the parent/guardian has no phone, the school nurse, the principal or a designee will transport the student. The student will not ride the bus.
3. A letter shall be given to the student's parent/guardian explaining the treatment. This letter shall be discussed with the parent/guardian in order that he/she understands completely the treatment with special shampoo (e.g., RID, NIX, Ovide, Kwell) and that it is his/her responsibility to perform the treatment before the student may return to school. Kwell is a prescription shampoo while RID, NIX, Ovide may be obtained over the counter.
a. It is the responsibility of the student's parent/guardian to administer the shampoo treatment. (It is not a disgrace to have lice. It is a disgrace to do nothing about the problem.)
b. For families under financial stress, the school will furnish lice shampoo for each child in the family.
c. The shampoo treatment shall be repeated in seven to 10 days to kill the lice that hatch from the nits that were not destroyed by the previous treatment.
d. The student's parent/guardian must complete a series of two forms that state the day, time and type of shampoo used in each treatment.
4. The student may return to school the next day accompanied by the signed form. The second form must be returned after the second treatment.
5. The student will be checked by the school nurse or his/her designee upon the student's return to school to be assured of treatment (no live lice). The student shall be checked again following the second treatment.
6. Head Lice Check Option. The parent/guardian has the option of having the student's physician do the head lice check in place of the school nurse or his/her designee. The following conditions must be adhered to:
a. Written verification from the student's physician must be provided stating that a head lice exam was conducted within five days before scheduled school checks (i.e., 5 days before first day of school, 5 days before the first day of school following Christmas vacation) and that no head lice or nits were found.
(1) This written verification must be presented to the school nurse on the date of the scheduled head lice check or the first day of the student's attendance following the vacation.
(2) Failure to do this will result in the school doing the head lice check.
b. On days of an unscheduled head lice exam (see the parent/guardian who has notified the school nurse that he/she has chosen this option will be called and he/she will be given the option:
(1) To take the student out of school for a head lice exam by the student's physician that day (again written verification from the physician must be presented to the school), or
(2) To have the school nurse and/or designee do the exam.
c. If the school is unable to reach the parent/guardian listed on the emergency card, the school nurse and/or designee will conduct the exam.
APPROVED: April 13, 2000