The Ontario North East District School Board has decided to stand by its current policy of having students with head lice seek treatment so they don’t spread it to other students.
Ontario North East District School Board reviewed its policy on pediculosis or head lice as many other school boards in Ontario have been doing since the Canadian Pediatric Society issued a report saying head lice are not a public health risk and children should not be kept away from school as it disrupts their learning.
The board yesterday voted to retain the current policy (Policy No. 2.1.24) because even though head lice do not pose a health risk they still do create a nuisance.
The policy is available on the board’s website
“The medical profession says lice doesn’t leap off the head of a child,” said chair Doug Shearer. “But we know that they do spread and we can’t allow other families to have this nuisance if it we don’t restrict it.”
The board’s policy is to notify the student’s family about the discovery of head lice and to provide information from the public health unit on the best options for treatment.
The student with head lice must leave the school and return once treatment has begun.
The student will be segregated from the rest of the class and be apart from the rest of the class until the treatment has been successful.
Shearer said in some cases eradication of the head lice may be more difficult as they have become resistant to some treatments.
“If the treatment doesn’t solve the problem we have to take the unfortunate step of telling the student he or she can’t come back until the problem is resolved,” he said.
The board discussion centred on the nuisance created by the spread of head lice for the family of the child that has it and the family of children who might acquire it.
“We have reviewed our policy on head lice as many boards are doing and decided to stick with our current policy,” Shearer said
“We share concern with those parents of children who unfortunately have this nuisance,” he said. “We support them by providing them with information from the health unit to help student and the family get through it.”
But Shearer said the board also has concerns about the spread to other students and the impact the nuisance may have on their families.
“As a board, we have taken note of that,” he said. “It is not fair for other families to have to deal with this if we don’t deal with it as a board.”
In districts where the school board has voted to allow students with head lice to attend class there has been a backlash from parent groups.
One report posted on CBC.ca tells of parents in Belleville who oppose the local school board's decision to allow students with head lice to attend classes - they have created a Facebook group called Stop the New Head Lice Protocol.
