94 replies to this topic

[Revolutionist]

Thanks so much for all the time you've already spent on this. I, for one, really appreciate it! And I'm glad you can make it tonight; tell me tomorrow what the dealy-o is.

Good news!
The board agreed to make a number of modifications to this policy tonight, which include better (and immediate) parent notification, more stringent verification of treatment, and better education on treatment/eradication. Pretty much everything we wanted, except my suggestion of isolation of the child, shaving the head, and heat-sealing the scalp with a blowtorch.

[dancinmomof3]

Good news!
The board agreed to make a number of modifications to this policy tonight, which include better (and immediate) parent notification, more stringent verification of treatment, and better education on treatment/eradication. Pretty much everything we wanted, except my suggestion of isolation of the child, shaving the head, and heat-sealing the scalp with a blowtorch.

LOL. heat-sealing the scalp. It is good news. Thank you again to everyone who has taken time to work on this. From what I understand they will approve the final version at the next meeting.

[Revolutionist]

LOL. heat-sealing the scalp. It is good news. Thank you again to everyone who has taken time to work on this. From what I understand they will approve the final version at the next meeting.

Can someone report on what happened to the lice policy at last night's board meeting? I was not able to make it as my county commission met the same night.

There seemed to be some incomplete work on the published draft that was posted on the district site, and I hope that further changes are to be made.

For instance, the word "immediately" is missing from the notification requirement for discovery of nits alone. Just because a live animal is not seen in an inspection does not mean they are not present. For instance, it took one mom over an hour of combing her child's hair and removing nits before a live specimen was found.

In addition, what happened to the required head-check of the returning student? what does verification of treatment mean? These were issues we thought were nailed down after the last meeting.

[dancinmomof3]

The board approved the revised policy that was submitted by staff. You can read it here: It is page 40 of the packet.

http://www.fcusd.org...acket082108.pdf

It does a lot to ensure that parents are better informed, but the verification of treatment is a joke imo since kids are still allowed to return to school with nits.

I did speak at the board meeting, thanked the staff and board for their efforts thus far and then expressed my concerns. They had Ms. Delleney speak and respond to my concerns and then they all voted in favor of the revised policy.

While the policy does not require the school to notify parents immediately if only nits are found and not live lice, it does not prohibit that. I hope the schools call immediately for both nits and live lice. I suppose we should speak to our principals, health workers and school nurses and let them know our preferences and ask how they plan to respond in such cases.

I do think that the new requirements for notification will be helpful in minimizing the problem to some degree.

[bordercolliefan]

The board approved the revised policy that was submitted by staff. You can read it here: It is page 40 of the packet.


While the policy does not require the school to notify parents immediately if only nits are found and not live lice, it does not prohibit that. I hope the schools call immediately for both nits and live lice. I suppose we should speak to our principals, health workers and school nurses and let them know our preferences and ask how they plan to respond in such cases.

I do think that the new requirements for notification will be helpful in minimizing the problem to some degree.

It's possible that the real benefit of your efforts will be simply that you made this such a high profile issue.

Now when a teacher, school nurse, or principal suspects lice, there is no way they are going to say, "Eh, whatever. It's not a public health threat. No big deal." Instead they are going to remember what a hornet's nest this stirred up last year, and fall all over themselves trying to be "Mr./Mrs. Tough on Lice." It probably doesn't even matter what the written policy says; everyone knows it's a PR issue now.

So... good job! I think your persistence will pay big dividends.