Gwin Oaks Elementary School | Head Lice Policy
Gwin Oaks Elementary School has a no nit policy. Students may not attend school if they have live lice or nits in their hair. If a student is found to have lice or nits, a parent will be called to pick them up from school. Students at Gwin Oaks Elementary should be treated with a FDA approved shampoo or treatment and have all of the nits removed before returning to school. A parent or guardian should plan to accompany the child to school the morning they return. The nurse must re-check the student before they are allowed to return to class. *Remember, all nits and live lice must be removed before they can return to school.
Only two (2) consecutive calendar days of absence will be considered excused for the current head lice problem. Any additional days missed with the current head lice problem will be marked unexcused.
Upon returning to school, please accompany your child to the clinic. No student will be allowed to ride the bus until the head lice condition is resolved. Proof of treatment must be brought to the clinic. If nits remain in the hair, your child will need to go back home and the absence will be unexcused. Head checks will be completed over the next few weeks in the clinic. If an exam during this period reveals lice or nits, you will be notified to pick up your child and the absence will be unexcused because it will be considered a continuation of the original head lice condition.
A child with chronic head lice may be required to see a physician and return with a note stating the head lice has been treated and no nits remain. If nits or lice continue to be a problem, the school social worker will be contacted.
***Absences related to lead lice are unexcused. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the treatment to use or removal of nits, please feel free to contact the school nurse at Gwin Oaks Elementary School.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Do I Have Lice?
Adult lice will be the easiest to spot because they are the biggest. But at the size of a sesame seed, they still aren’t that big. Although lice vary in color, if you see a grayish-white or tan bug crawling through the hair, it is probably a louse. If you look closely at an adult louse, you should be able to see human blood inside it.
Look at the hair strands about a quarter inch (~0.5 cm) off the scalp. See if you can find lice eggs (often called nits) attached to individual hairs. Nits are extremely small. They look like tiny specks and will be glued pretty securely to the hair. If you see any, try pulling them off with your fingers. If you can’t easily pull them off, they are probably eggs and not dandruff.
How Can I Get Lice?
The primary way you can get head lice is when your head comes in direct contact with the head of an infested individual. Head-to-head contact like that doesn’t guarantee that the infestation will spread, but it gives lice the best opportunity to move from the hair of the infested person to your hair.
Head lice don’t jump, swim or fly. Without strands of hair to grab with the claws on their legs, they have trouble getting around at all. However, they can crawl pretty quickly along the hair, so if your hair comes in contact with an infested head, it doesn’t take much for a louse to hitch a ride on a strand of your hair and make its way to your scalp.
How Long Can Lice Live?
Excluding the 8-9 days they spend as eggs, head lice can live for around 40-45 days on your head. As parasites, they feed on human blood several times a day.
If they are removed from their food source - say from getting knocked out of your hair with a brush or your hand - they can survive 24-48 hours. If they don’t find some human hair to crawl back to a new host during that time, they will die.
How Can I Kill Lice?
There are many ways you can kill lice. You can suffocate them, poison them, or dry them out. You can also starve them if you get them away from their food source - your head - long enough (they’ll die within 24-48 hours).
Who Should Get The AirAllé Treatment?
The AirAllé device is intended to kill or remove head lice and their eggs in the hair of adults and children 4 years of age and older. For children under 4, we recommend a traditional comb-out.
Does The AirAllé Treatment Really Work?
Yes! Because it is an FDA-cleared device, we can’t make up efficacy claims that aren’t backed up by clinical data.
What Should I Do After Treatment?
Head lice do not survive long if they fall off a person and cannot feed. You don’t need to spend a lot of time or money on housecleaning activities. Follow these steps to help avoid re–infestation by lice that have recently fallen off the hair or crawled onto clothing or furniture.
- Machine wash and dry clothing, bed linens, and other items that the infested person wore or used during the 2 days before treatment using the hot water (130°F) laundry cycle and the high heat drying cycle. Clothing and items that are not washable can be dry–cleaned OR sealed in a plastic bag and stored for 2 weeks.
- Soak combs and brushes in hot water (at least 130°F) for 5–10 minutes.
- Vacuum the floor and furniture, particularly where the infested person sat or lay. However, the risk of getting infested by a louse that has fallen onto a rug or carpet or furniture is very small. Head lice survive less than 1–2 days if they fall off a person and cannot feed; nits cannot hatch and usually die within a week if they are not kept at the same temperature as that found close to the human scalp. Spending much time and money on housecleaning activities is not necessary to avoid re-infestation by lice or nits that may have fallen off the head or crawled onto furniture or clothing.
- Do not use fumigant sprays; they can be toxic if inhaled or absorbed through the skin.
