At the current time, we have only a very few students who have had head lice, but since head lice can appear at any time of year, I thought I'd remind parents about some policies that we have to follow at Maplewood. Our nurse, Michelle Maclachlan, is here only on Tuesdays; school nurses are hired through the Multnomah Educational Service District (MESD).
The current advice is that parents should periodically check their children for any signs of head lice. The MESD establishes many of our health policies, which include the following:
" Parents are encouraged to check their children regularly for head lice. Students with live lice will be excluded from school and sent home with lice treatment information. The student will be readmitted to school aftertreatment with an FDA (Federal Drug Administration) approved medicated product and re-examination for live lice. Any student with nits only will be allowed in school and monitored for re-infestation of lice. Current evidence does not support classroom or school-wide screening as a measure for decreasing the incidence of head lice among school age children."
At Maplewood, we monitor cases of head lice, to watch for reasonable ways to prevent the spread of head lice. If you have questions about this, feel free to contact Michelle at Maplewood. Additional resources can be found at the MESD Head Lice Resources page at http://www.mesd.k12.or.us/shs/hss/Head%20Lice%20Resources/headliceresourcesindex.shtml
