Head Lice Make Appearance in Albany School

[Editor's Note: This story originally was published Sept. 24, but was updated Oct. 11 to reflect information from Albany Unified School District indicating that only children with active lice are sent home.]

In a recent message to parents, Marin Elementary School Principal David Kumamoto reported a few cases of lice during the early weeks of school. 

Kumamoto asked parents to check children's heads, and added that there would be a screening day Oct. 7 for all the school's kids.

Principals at Ocean View and Cornell elementary schools could not be reached for information about whether there had been cases of lice at their schools.

As it turns out, the Albany Unified School District has quite strict lice policies, which experts have said should be dismissed. It's harder to transmit lice, many pediatricians say, than was previously believed.

In July, the American Academy of Pediatrics released a new report, attached here, indicating that children with lice should not be kept out of school.

"A child should not be restricted from school attendance because of lice, because head lice have low contagion within classrooms," the report states. "Some schools have had 'no-nit' policies under which a child was not allowed to return to school until all nits were removed. However, most researchers agree that no-nit policies should be abandoned."

Superintendent Marla Stephenson said the district is aware of these reports, but that the Albany Unified School District had maintained a "no-nit" policy because of parent concerns. 

[Director of Curriculum and Instruction Lynda Hornada said, in October, the district now only sends home children with active lice. Cornell and Ocean View have been following this policy since 2007. Marin started in 2010.]

Stephenson said the district has talked to parents at the elementary schools about allowing kids back in class before all nits, or lice eggs, are removed. But parents were not open to the idea.

"We have had presentations at our elementary PTAs about these recommendations," she said. "We are still facing public (parent) opposition to implementing a policy that allows students to remain in school after being treated for lice if nits are still in the hair. We still have a lot of education to do with the public on this issue."

The July report said that, not only should no-nit policies be abandoned, students should be allowed to remain in school, even with live lice.

"Because a child with an active head lice infestation likely has had the infestation for 1 month or more by the time it is discovered and poses little risk to others from the infestation, he or she should remain in class but be discouraged from close direct head contact with others," according to the report.

According to the Directors of Health Promotion and Education, lice can affect anyone. 

• Pre-school- and elementary-school-aged children and their families are infested most often
• Girls get head lice more often than boys, and women more often than men
• Head lice is a very common condition, especially among children ages 3-10
• As many as 6 million to 12 million people worldwide get head lice each year
• Outbreaks of head lice occur often in schools and group settings worldwide
• Outbreaks of head lice have nothing to do with a family's income, social status or level of personal hygiene