West Ada School District Head Lice Policy Demand for Change

After having lice come home from school 2+ times in a 6 week period, missed school, excessive costs and burden on our family (nearly $500 in treatments, laundry, missed work by parents, emotional trauma, etc), and no accountability on the school level, I 100% believe there must be a more proactive approach to controlling this!

I'm employed in West ADA school district. I care about the kids who are in the classroom. I have never been infected with lice and hope to keep that maintained.

We were checked constantly when someone had lice at this age! They should do the same now!!!

I have children at Pioneer and Hunter and the current policies are unacceptable and show an outright lack of care and respect for our children and their teachers.

Why does West Ada school district ignore medical standards of care in our schools. I am shocked and embarrassed I trusted the school administration.

Grandchild.

There are now THREE children with lice in my daughter's classroom. The teacher and all the students are paranoid daily due to this! The one girl with ongoing lice that can't seem to get it under control is facing serious self esteem issues after now, month TWO of having lice. No nit policy NOW!!

Though I do not have a child in the district, I am an employee. I come in contact with children,their backpacks, and various articles of clothing on a daily basis. I make about 900 dollars a month, I literally CAN NOT afford to get rid of lice if I were to contract it. Students found to have lice should be immediately sent home and parents should have the burden of proving they gave their child the proper treatment.

I will would this 1,000 times if I could. The reason why there is an epidemic is because there isn't anything preventative anymore. No nit policies need to be enforced. Yes they arent harmful and just a nuisance, but that nuisance causes stress and anxiety. Bullying and terrible learning environments.

Kids should have to stay home until the lice are gone. Although it is not a major health risk it is unsanitary and difficult to deal with. When classrooms are passing it around continuously it becomes a hassle to deal with.

If there are those who can’t afford the process given to eliminate the head lice there are services to assist them. Allowing others to be at risk not a fair solution.

I am a teacher and also have a student in a lice infected classroom. The stress this causing the students and the teacher of my son's class is very much affecting the learning environment. Not to mention the loss of instructional time to bag and re-bag belongings after ever break. The situation in our building is causing contention and negativity. I have been a teacher for 21 years. Not once has a member of the AAP, NASN, or the CDC approached me to ask my opinion on this matter. Our mission in the WASD is to teach children and lice invoke an unnecessary obstacle in this process.

I agree that a school district policy change is needed to protect our children from lice. I have been so impressed with the teachers, nurse and principal at our local school for their amazing effort in containing the problem. They have gone above and beyond their job description to help all their students. However, their hands are tied and are not permitted to keep kids home or perform whole class screenings. We must protect our own children, as well as stand up for the children who suffer from a continual lice problem.

As victims of these poor policies in the past, I wholeheartedly support the changes proposed in this petition. As a spouse of a West Ada teacher, I demand it.

This is a serious issue and needs to be treated accordingly!

My child is still too young for school, but attends daycare with children that do go to west ada schools. He will someday soon be there as well. You're not only putting all the students at risk, but small children in daycares as well. Proper screening is the key to preventing.

I had no idea that kids today could return to the classroom with nits or without being cleared by a professional. This was not the case when my kids were in school during the late 90's. We had an outbreak of lice at our house and it was terrible. My kids missed 3 days of school and I missed 3 days of work just trying to rid ourselves and our environment of the pests. It was very disruptive to our lives. Why pass lice around to disrupt even more lives? It doesn't make common sense. Think about the single parents (as I was) trying to work and care for kids. Think about the parent/s with a disabled child already on the brink of exhaustion. Think about families going through troubled times and then having to deal with lice. Just using over-the-counter products does not work. Parents must do diligence to make sure their kids are lice and nit free. Policies need to be in place to ensure that this disruption to the classroom is eliminated.

This really needs to be addressed! That is horrid! Girls suffer the most. By not addressing this issue you are abusing children.