Snow on the ground means it’s time to bundle up, and in schools it also means watching out for the pesky, itchy critters that usually show up at the beginning of the school year: head lice.
KTUU recently reported that in the Anchorage and Mat-Su Borough School Districts, students found with lice will not be sent home immediately, because lice is not considered an official public health risk—they’re a nuisance, but they don’t carry disease. Families will be informed by the end of the day and the child will be checked for live lice before being allowed back in class.
But school administrators in Nome are taking a different approach, after some parents expressed concern about the more lenient policy and inquired about how Nome schools handle the irritating affliction.
“Lice and bed bugs are the uncomfortable elephant in the room in rural Alaska because as I understand the law it’s not going to kill anyone, and so we really don’t, as a school, have the authority to force—not that we’re trying to do that—but to force someone to leave to get treatment for it,” said Nome Elementary School principal Paul Clark.
While he said he couldn’t force a parent to pick up their child, he said parents are usually very understanding.
“When I call parents I say, ‘Shawn, your daughter’s in my office and I just want to let you know it looks like she’s got some lice. Kids can be harsh on each other. I’d really recommend you come get her and take her home and try to work with her hair—have her take a shower, get the treatments. Can you come in some time soon?’ I’ve never had a parent yell at me and say absolutely not,” said Clark.
Lice can be embarrassing and Clark said parents usually come to get their child right away. But school board member Jennifer Reader insisted the school administration develop a policy to make sure kids don’t stay in the classroom if they’re found to have lice.
“It’s not contagious, necessarily, but it spreads like wildfire and so leaving a child with that condition in a seat around staff and students, to me, poses a public health concern because it’s not something you want the entire school to get,” said Reader.
Superintendent Steve Gast said, currently, Nome Public Schools doesn’t have a specific administrative regulation to address lice, but at a policy committee meeting Wednesday, they decided to develop one to reflect the current practice. Gast said if a parent wasn’t able to pick their child up immediately, the school would likely keep the student in the office or transport the student home if a guardian would be there.
