Charlottesville School Lice Policy

Many schools in Charlottesville have dropped their “no nit” policies. Charlottesville, Virginia and Surrounding Area’s School Head Lice Policies Based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP, Harvard School of Public Health and the National Association of School Nurses (NASN), many schools in the Charlottesville area have dropped their “no nit” policies and now allow students to attend school even if they have nits. The reasons for the change are:

• Increase School Attendance
• Reduce Social Stigmas
• No increase in number or transmission of cases in schools implementing these changes

Albemarle County Public Schools

Albemarle County Schools have dropped their “no nit” policy. The Albemarle County Public Schools have recently dropped their “no nit” policy and allow students with nits to attend school. Based on the revised recommendations of the CDC, AAP and NASN, Albemarle County schools will follow the below proscribed procedures with respect to head lice infestations:   “When a student is found to have live lice:

1. The student’s parent(s) will be notified by telephone, if possible, and information will be sent home about detecting and treating head lice. The school nurse may use professional judgment to determine if the student may be permitted to remain in school until the end of the school day or be sent home upon discovery of lice (a few lice vs. hundreds).
2. The parent will receive instructions on how to detect and treat head lice and will be informed that the student may not return to school until undergoing an appropriate treatment.
3. The student will be examined upon returning to school and will not be permitted to return to class if live lice are detected. Parents will be instructed to remove all live lice before the student may return to class.
4. If nits or eggs are found, the parent will be instructed to continue to work toward removing them, especially those close to the scalp (within 1cm) but the student may remain in school.
5. The school nurse will check the student in 10 days and the student will be excluded again for live lice.

When a student is found to have nits/eggs but no live lice:

1. The parent will be notified by telephone, if possible and by letter if not, and encouraged to check the student frequently for the presence of live lice and to minimize the chances of infestation by removing nits/eggs.
2. The student will NOT be excluded from school.
3. The nurse will check the student again in 7 days and the student will be excluded for live lice as above but not for nits/eggs only.

Screening or checking beyond the student with an identified infestation:

1. If the student has siblings in the school, those siblings may be checked and the above procedures will be followed for evidence of live lice or nits.
2. Other close contacts may be checked per the judgment of the school nurse.
3. The nurse may check all classmates if there is evidence that more than one classmate are infested.
4. Entire grade or school screening will not be done routinely. In the rare cases involving widespread infestation, the school nurse may use professional judgment in determining when to conduct more extensive head checking or screening.”

Learn more at www2.k12albemarle.org

Stafford County Public Schools Lice Policy

As with the Albemarle schools, Stafford County schools no longer have a “no nit” policy in place. Below is the policy in this district. “The nurse will conduct a visual assessment of that scalp and hair, call a parent to pick up the child, if lice are present and inform the parent of treatment at home. The school nurse will share a brochure with the parent and inform the student and parent on transmission and prevention strategies. The nurse will educate parents on select treatment options. Classrooms will be checked only if transmission is suspected at school. The custodial staff will be notified for cleaning; the nurse will conduct a visual inspection for harboring locations in the classroom and will discuss modification of classroom behaviors and activities. The student may return to class after proper treatment. The nurse will check siblings. Documentation of treatment will be provided by the parent. Support will be given to family and child to reduce negative social impact. All staff will maintain the confidentiality of the students and families.” Learn more at stafford.schoolfusion.us

Waynesboro City Public School District & Buckingham County School District

These districts maintain their “no nit” policies at this point in time stating that children may not attend school with lice or nits. Below are the reasons for exclusion from school as stated on their sites:

1. “Contagious health problem.
2. Lack of immunizations except when having a waiver.
3. Children with head lice will be excluded from school until the hair has been treated and ALL of the eggs (nits) have been removed”