Waukee Schools Announce Head Lice Notification Policy

It's a debate that's been brewing since the start of the 2012-13 school year - why aren't parents notified when head lice is present in their child's classroom?

The question's been thrown around since a handful of incidents of head lice were reported at Eason Elementary in August, just two weeks into the new school year with no mandatory reporting policy in place district-wide. 

In September, concerned parents started a petition to ask the Waukee school district to create a policy that would alert them when a case was reported in the classroom. At a Sept. 10 meeting of the Waukee school board, the idea made its way to the district's Policy Committee.

Since that meeting, head lice has been reported at Brookview Elementary, still with no policy in place to alert parents.

At the Oct. 4 meeting of the Waukee Schools' Policy Committee, steps were taken to create a means to alert parents about head lice though it may not be what parents were hoping for.

According to Waukee Schools Superintendent Dave Wilkerson, "We will be addressing the issue by creating a health link for each building on our website. This is where we will post various alerts, including head lice."

A statement released yesterday said:

At the Waukee Community School District we follow the procedures set by the Iowa Department of Public Health. They provide schools with recommendations on head lice prevention and control. 

Iowa Department of Public Health recommendations include, but are not limited to:

• Discontinue “no nit” policies. “No-nits” policies that require a child to be free of nits before they can return to school are not recommended. Children should not be excluded from school. Head lice can be a nuisance but have not been shown to spread disease.
• Children should remain in school for the rest of the day if head lice are detected. Notify parents by phone, provide educational materials on treatment, and review treatment protocols. It is reasonable to expect that treatment be started before the child returns to school the next day.
• Discontinue routine school-based screening. Current evidence does not support classroom or school-wide screening as a method to stop head lice transmission. Instead, schools should educate parents and staff about lice detection, treatment, and prevention. Parents should be encouraged to regularly screen their children for lice. It should be assumed that head lice are in the community and schools at all times.

Department of Health does not recommend parental notification when there is a case in a room. This goes back to assuming that head lice are in the community and schools at all times. Waukee Schools have provided classroom notifications when several cases of head lice are in one classroom.

Waukee Community Schools run the Iowa Department of Public Health information on head lice prevention and control periodically in school newsletters to remind parents to conduct frequent checks. Soon, a health link for each building will be added to our website where we will post various alerts, including head lice.

As with all situations involving our students it’s import to remember the privacy and confidentiality rights of our students and families.

Further information about this subject can be found by visiting:

www.idph.state.ia.us

www.idph.state.ia.us/hcci/common/pdf/headlice_brochure.pdf

http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lice/

Parents, what do you think? Is the Waukee School District's website link enough of a notification that head lice is present in schools? Tell us in the comments below.