Schools May Halt Head Lice Screenings

Schools may stop routine head lice screenings and students with head lice may no longer be sent home from school, if the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees approves a policy change Wednesday.

New guidance from the state Department of Public Health prompted the proposed alteration. The California Department of Public Health adopted the new policy in September, according to the Register Pajaronian.

• It's no longer recommends routine school-wide screenings of students.
• School staff are not required to check of siblings of infected students.
• A student with active head lice can stay in school (currently, they are sent home once the head lice is discovered).
• It's up to the school principal to decide of parents of other students in the class will be notified of the head lice case.

What that means is parents would now have more responsibility to manage head lice cases at home the evening they are discovered. The student would not be allowed back at school the following day if active head lice are found again.

Chronic head lice cases would be managed by a team of school staff, social services and the local health department.

The school board was going to discuss this proposal on Oct. 10, but the issue was postponed to allow Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Education Ylda Nogueda to review the proposal.

The school board meets at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Pajaro Valley Unified School District offices on Green Valley Road.