Change the School Lice Policy and Stop Lice Stowaways!

Do you know the lice policy at your child's school? Are you aware that children with confirmed NITS (lice eggs) are allowed to attend classes? Students are only required to leave school when they have CRAWLING lice present. The lice policy is stated in the 2015-16 District and Elementary Student Handbook under Communicable Diseases and Parasites (4.34), Pages 46 & 47. Lice are discussed within the section as a "Human Host Parasite". Since NITS (lice eggs) are not considered transmittable because they attach to the hair strands and do not yet crawl, those students are allowed to remain in school. However, this policy greatly lacks foresight and to protect our children and homes from infestation we implore you to read and consider signing the petition to "Change the School Lice Policy and Stop Lice Stowaways".

With the school lice policy in hand, I called Nixlice.com and requested information. They were kind enough to provide me with the following info:
*Nits (lice eggs) hatch in 8-9 days
*A nymph (an immature louse hatched from the nit) matures in 9-12 days
*An adult louse can lay up to 100 eggs, feeds on blood, can survive up to 30 days on a human host's head and if it falls off will live one to two days before dying. While a louse cannot jump or fly, it will crawl and will seek a host.

With this information in mind. We would like to offer the foresight which we feel the school lice policy lacks:
*If the school considers NITS (lice eggs) non-transmittable and allows children with confirmed NITS (which will hatch in 8-9 days) to attend school, we ask what happens when the NITS hatch DURING school hours? Will they be checking the heads of children with confirmed NITS on a daily basis several times throughout the day to ensure they have not hatched and consequently become "transmittable human host parasites"? This would take a great deal of time and attention for the school faculty to monitor on a daily basis and therefore we feel it is not a reasonable solution.

We request the school to do head checks for NITS (lice eggs) and crawling lice on a regular basis in an attempt to prevent the spread of these troublesome stowaways. We also request children with NITS (lice eggs) and/or crawling lice be required to immediately leave school and not be allowed to return to classes until they are confirmed NIT and LICE free by a professional (a doctor, nurse or the school nurse).

Addendum:  We do understand that lice treatments are expensive.  We propose that a fund be set up to not only help those families in financial need to afford proper lice treatment but to also educate them in prevention so children do not miss needed classes and parents do not lose time at work.  Suggestions are invited and welcomed.  Open discussion will be the best way to resolve this issue in our school and we hope to do so harmoniously.