5141.33 - Head Lice - Procedure

School employees shall report all suspected cases of head lice to the school nurse or designee as soon as possible. The nurse or designee shall examine the student and other students who are siblings of the affected student or members of the same household and in attendance at the school.

If a student is found with active, adult head lice, he/she shall be excluded from attendance. The parent/guardian of an excluded student shall receive information about recommended treatment procedures and sources of further information. The student shall be allowed to return to school the next day and shall be checked by the nurse or designee before returning to class. Once he/she is determined to be free of lice, the student may be rechecked weekly for up to six weeks.

The Superintendent or designee shall send home the notification required by law for excluded students. (Education Code 48213).

The principal and/or school nurse shall work with the parents/guardians of any student who has been deemed to be a chronic head lice case in order to help minimize the student’s absences from school.

When two or more students in any class have been identified as having a head lice infestation, all students in the class shall be examined. In consultation with the school nurse, information about head lice may also be sent home to all parents/guardians of the students in that class.

Staff shall maintain the privacy of students identified as having head lice and excluded from attendance.

Legal Reference

EDUCATION CODE

48210-48216 Persons excluded
49451 Physical examinations: parent’s refusal to consent

Management Resources

AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS

Lice, Nits, and School Policy, Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics,
May 2001

CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES

Guidelines for Parents on Control of Head Lice, 2006

CALIFORNIA SCHOOL NURSES ORGANIZATION

Position Statement: Pediculosis Management, 2005

WEBSITES

California Department of Health Services, Infectious Diseases Branch:
https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/IDB.aspx

California School Nurses Organization:
https://csno.memberclicks.net/

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Parasitic Disease Information, Head Lice:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/lice

(6/89 7/99) 7/06

Approved: June 10, 2008