The WW-P school district has a policy of sending young children home if they are identified as having lice. While on the surface this sounds like good policy, the truth of the matter is that this causes more disruption than any benefit.
Below are some truths on lice and the policy that I have taken from the Centers for Disease Control and NJ Department of Health websites to highlight the argument to abolish this policy:
Head lice can be a nuisance, but they have not been shown to spread disease. Personal hygiene or cleanliness at home or school has nothing to do with getting head lice.
Many nits are more than a quarter inch from the scalp. Such nits are usually not viable and very unlikely to hatch to become crawling lice, or may in fact be empty shells, also known as casings.
Nits are cemented to hair shafts and are very unlikely to be transferred successfully to other people.
The burden of unnecessary absenteeism to the students, families, and communities far outweighs the risks associated with head lice.
The CDC recommends a more tactful and practical solution than our current policy: Students diagnosed with live head lice do not need to be sent home early from school; they can go home at the end of the day, be treated, and return to class after appropriate treatment has begun. Nits may persist after treatment, but successful treatment should kill crawling lice.
I hope our school district will review this policy and take the right approach as suggested by the CDC.
Jayasimha Raju
West Windsor
