Clarence Hayes, who represents RTM District 4, is very engaged in local issues. He recently retired from a career in information technology. He is an avid amateur naturalist, gardener and walker, and enjoys hanging out with his 5 grandkids.
He writes:
“The lice problem is “out of control.”
This was stated in letters and in person, by several parents at the Board of Education meeting last month.
This is not being exaggerated by a couple of annoyed parents. I have grandkids in elementary school, and am part of the parent gossip grapevine. It’s everywhere, in all the elementary schools.
Head lice: a familiar sight.
What should be done? At the BOE meeting parents were told “the district follows state regulation. Lice has been a persistent issue for many years in many schools.”
What are these “state regulations”? Information posted on the Westport Public Schools website states the school should do nothing, and rely entirely on parents to inspect their children at least weekly, then treat appropriately.
The “Head Lice Management in Schools” section states:
- There should be no screening of students at school
- No child should be excluded from school due to the presence of nits or live lice
- If lice are discovered by a nurse, no one is to be notified other than the parent.
It adds that school nurses should educate parents on how to identify and treat lice.
Why do nothing? The WPS website says:
- “A head lice infestation is not a communicable disease and no health risks have been associated with head lice … It is merely a nuisance, not a health issue.”
- “Exclusion from school can adversely affect students emotionally, socially and academically.”
- “Decrease stigmatism of these children”
11% of the total population of Westport (elementary age students), residing in perhaps 25% or more of the housing of Westport, goes to an environment every day, where they are mixed together.
Being active children they tussle and roughhouse, and share hats. brushes, helmets, masks, hair bands, play outfits, etc.
To sum up: Lice are rampant. Kids like to play. Parents don’t tell the schools or other parents when their kids have lice, so others cannot act in response. This cycle cannot be broken without common shared intervention. It will go on forever. The BOE says as much, stating it’s been a problem for years.
School is the only institution in a position to do anything substantial enough to resolve this problem. That is where transmission happens, and that is the only place where all transmission vectors are gathered.
My proposal: Bring back school lice inspection, but do not exclude students from school if lice are found.
The district can periodically hire inspectors who will work with school nurses, to inspect students. This might need to be done annually, at the start of the school year.
If it is too expensive, a GoFundMe campaign could collect sufficient funds from parents. Initially everyone must be screened multiple times, over at least 9-12 weeks.
Confidentiality and effectiveness can be combined. Every child will be inspected by a professional, one at a time. If nits or live lice are present, that information would be provided only to that student’s parents. The child would still attend school. Any concerned parent will treat their child immediately.
However, that student will have to be inspected again to determine if treatment was actually done, and was effective. To mask this, there could be a random lottery of “re-inspection,” and those with nits would be included.
Or we could not worry about the supposed stigma, and just re-test as needed those initially found to have lice. If they are still going to school they will not lose academic time, nor will parents need to take off work to watch them at home.
This is common sense. I think the CDC and others have gone overboard in their attempt to “avoid stigma.” Their documents focus primarily on what not to do, due to concern about exclusion, rather than outlining ways that public institutions can solve the problem.
I call on the Westport schools to play a more active role in solving a problem only they are positioned to solve, instead of pushing it off solely on parents (who cannot solve it independently), in an effort to avoid any appearance of “stigmatizing.”
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