Children With Lice Eggs Now Allowed to Stay in School

It used to be that students with lice or nits had to stay home from school until the infestation cleared up.

But a new policy in the San Ramon Valley Unified School District will require kids with lice eggs to stay in school, and ban from the classroom only those with the hatched bugs, said Ginny Haddad, of the superintendent's office.

The latest rules come after a set of guidelines released this week by the American Society of Pediatrics that say kids with lice nits should be allowed to stay in school.

The change has some parents and teachers worried that having more nit-ridden students will cause bigger outbreaks, which last year affected a few-dozen children in local schools, according to district staff.

"I disagree with the policy because I wouldn't want my child sitting next to another kid with nits that could be passed along," said Cathy Danielson, a teacher at Walt Disney Elementary School. "Kids get close to each other, and things happen."

Another stressor for many is how this will affect school employees, such as teachers who miss out on class time with their pupils, secretaries who have to do head-checks for the parasites, school nurses who have to treat the students and janitorial staff who have to disinfect a classroom once there's an outbreak.

"My … concern is the school nurse budget has been cut years ago, some schools only have one once or twice a week," said Sarah Tully, a San Ramon mother with three children enrolled in the local school district. "Now they are going to put more responsibility on the already overworked office staff to follow these children. Mind boggling."

Some doubt the study's claim that lice nits aren't much of a threat to other students.

"The nits can hatch at any time," Danielson said. "I don't know if this will mean there will be more outbreaks this school year, but I wonder how this is going to play out. It's very time-consuming to deal with once there is an infestation."

Sharon Dodson, the district's head nurse, is on summer break and was unavailable for comment.

The local district is one among hundreds in California that have changed their guidelines to reflect the latest research and recommendations. The national pediatrics organization behind the research said lice eggs aren't a good enough reason for a child to stay home from school.

"Head lice are not a health hazard or a sign of poor hygiene and, in contrast to body lice, are not responsible for the spread of any disease," according to the report from the organization. "No healthy child should be excluded from or miss school because of head lice, and no-nit policies for return to school should be abandoned."

The pediatrics society urges parents to check a child's head before and after sleepovers or camps where kids share close quarters. Because some treatments are toxic, the group suggests consulting with a pediatrician about the best way to get rid of an infestation.

The report in the pediatric journal requires a subscription, but for more information on head lice, click here.