Policy Code: JGC Student Health Services

Section: J Students

Policy:

Head Lice (Pediculosis Capitus)

According to state law, public schools must monitor students for head lice. Students in grades k-5 will be checked periodically for head lice as determined by the principal. The classroom teacher will do the first screening and have all suspected cases rechecked by the school nurse. The Ocean Springs School District policy regarding head lice is based on recommended guidelines by the Centers of Dis3easae Control (CDC), American Academy of Pediatrics, National Association of School Nurses, and the Harvard School of Public Health. If live lice are observed, then parents will be asked to pick up their student and begin treatment. Once treatment has been verified (signing of document sent home with child and proof of treatment), the child will be allowed to return to school. Upon return, school staff will re-examine the student before the child returns to the classroom. The student will be examined again in 7-10 days by school staff to confirm the absence of lice and nits. If only nits (lice eggs) are observed, parents will be notified and information will be sent home advising how to address the condition. Once treatment has been verified (signing of document sent home with child and proof of treatment), the child will be allowed to return to school. Upon return, school staff will re-examine the student before the child returns to the classroom. The student will be examined again in 7-10 days by school staff to confirm the absence of lice and nits.

Referral to Health Department

“If a student in any public elementary or secondary school has had lice on three (3) consecutive occasions during one (1) school year while attending school, or if the parent of the student has been notified by school officials that the student has had head lice on three (3) consecutive occasions in one (1) school year, as determined by the school nurse, public health nurse or a physician, the principal or administrator shall notify the county health department of the recurring problem of head lice with that student”

The school should designate the school nurse, teachers or other staff to be “confirming examiners” who will refer children to the health department.

To refer a child to the health department for this purpose, the form OSSD-LT-FORM-3 should be competed and sent with the child to the local health department. The examiner should notify the public health nurse by telephone of the referral so that the nurse will be expecting the child. The form OSSD-LT-FORM-3 must be completed by the health department and returned to school.

Children who should be referred to the health department are:

Those who have been found by the confirming examiner to be infested with lice and have been appropriately treated (meaning a medically approved treatment, removal of nits, and follow up treatment) on three (3) consecutive occasions during the year.

The Ocean Springs School District is complying with all directives from House Bill 154 passed by the Legislature in the 1997 session and the Mississippi State Health Department in handling cases of pediculus humanus capites (head lice).

Ocean Springs School District

Lice Treatment Procedures

Dear Parent or Guardian:

Your child, ______, has been found to have head lice. Head lice do not transmit disease, and they are not a result of lack of cleanliness. School age children get them commonly, sometimes more than once.

There are three steps in the successful management of head lice:

1.Killing the lice with an approved medical treatment

2.Removal of nits

3.Environmental control

You should consult a pharmacist or your child’s physician for a recommendation as to which of several effective products to use to treat your child. As soon as you have treated your child with an approved pediculicidal (louse-killing) product and all nits have attempted to be removed,he/she may return to school. To be re admitted to school, he/she must return the lice treatment verification school readmission form, attached to this packet, signed by a parent or guardian, along with proof of pediculicidal treatment.

Most products must be used twice, once to start and again not less than seven days or more than ten days (eight days is ideal) after the first treatment. Your child need not miss any school after completing the first treatment and the child has been found louse free, but you must send proof of second pediculicidal treatment with your child one week to ten days after the first treatment stating the date of the second treatment.DO NOT RETREAT MORE THAN THE RECOMMENDED NUMBER OF TIMES, OR SOONER THAN SEVEN DAYS LATER UNLESS ADVISED TO DO SO BY YOUR DOCTOR. He/She will be examined again in 7-10 days by school staff to confirm the absence of lice and nits. Parents/Guardians will be contacted if either is found.

The Mississippi State Department of Health recommends that you attempt to remove the nits to avoid re-infestation by those nits hatching that may have been missed by the treatment. The nits can be removed by dividing the hair into sections and working each section separately. Look for small grayish-white or yellowish-brown specks that are attached to the hair shaft close to the scalp. Nits are attached to the hair shaft very firmly with a glue-like substance and are not easily brushed out. They must be picked out with the fingernails or combed out with a nit comb that usually comes with the louse-killing product. This can be done outdoors in bright sunlight or indoors with a good reading lamp as nits are sometimes hard to see.

The other members of your family should be checked for head lice and treated if they are found to have them. Persons who sleep in the same bed with the infested child should be treated regardless. Clothing and personal lines (such as towels, bedclothes, book bags, and jackets used by an infested person) should be machine washed (use hot water) and dried (on hot); non washables can be dry cleaned or stored in an air-tight plastic bag for 2 weeks. Cloth-covered furniture and carpet that have been in extensive contact with an infested person’s head should be thoroughly vacuumed. Lice killing sprays are usually not necessary.

______

PrincipalDate

Ocean Springs School District

Lice Treatment Verification

School Readmission Form

The school will not readmit students until they are properly treated according to the procedures listed in the attached letter. This form must be signed and returned with the verification of treatment for the student to be re admitted to school.

Date ______School ______Teacher ______

Student______Grade ______

DATE OF 1st OCCURRENCE: ______

My child has been properly treated for head lice according to the procedures outlined in the notification letter. The product I used for treatment was:

Name of Product ______Date of Treatment ______

Attached to this form is the box top, label, or some proof of the product I used. I understand that I must retreat my child in no less than 7 days or no more than 10 days and that a second note must be sent to verify the second treatment.

Parent Signature ______Date of Treatment ______

Date of 2nd Treatment ______Product Used ______

DATE OF 2nd OCCURRENCE: ______

My child has been properly treated for head lice according to the procedures outlined in the notification letter and all nits have been removed. The product I used for treatment was:

Name of Product ______Date of Treatment ______

Parent Signature ______Date of Treatment ______

Date of 2nd Treatment ______Product Used ______

DATE OF 3rd OCCURRENCE: ______- Requires Referral to Health Department

The 3rd Occurrence will require the parent to:

1.Take student and OSSD-LT-Form-3 School Referral From to the Health Department

2.Bring student and OSSD-LT-Form-3 back to school with a report from the Health Department verifying treatment.