Schools, funding and head lice
Many states are changing from a "no nit" to a "live-bug-only" policy to increase funding.
Schools largely get paid on an average daily attendance (ADA) basis. This means schools are paid for each day a student shows up in school. Faced with challenging budgetary issues, cuts and furloughs, many schools are scrambling to improve funding in any way they can. One approach schools have opted for is to lower absenteeism rates attributable to head lice cases, hoping to increase ADA funding. In an effort to do so, schools are adopting change to their head lice policy, switching from a "no nit" policy to a "no live lice" policy, hoping students will be in school more often.
A "no nit" policy has traditionally meant a child is excluded from attending school until and unless the nits have been removed. Lost days at school mean a loss of ADA funding. However, since nits don’t transfer over to others but crawlers do, it makes sense to consider a modified “no nit” policy that allows a child with nits to stay in school while undergoing effective lice treatment. Consequently, a “modified no nit” policy would preserve ADA funding, while the emotional toll on children from the peer pressures and stigma associated with lice are minimized, just as the financial toll on families is greatly decreased simultaneously.
Education is key
How to effectively manage and take control of the condition is not widely understood. Too frequently, due to misinformation, the condition is ineffectively addressed and found difficult to eliminate, even after parents have spent wasted time and money on product after product and countless hours picking nits only to feel helpless after all that. All too often, students miss school, parents miss work, and schools lose ADA funding unnecessarily.
The answer is: an education about the actions and timetable necessary, in the treatment, control and prevention of head lice. This ensures no risk exists and the child is truly on their way to being free of the condition as long as they are being effectively treated.
At Bay Area head Lice Intervention Services (BAHLIS), we believe a "no live lice" policy means although nits are present, unless a live crawling bug is observed, the child may remain in school and funding is sustained - albeit temporarily.
At BALISS, we see challenges ahead with a 'live-bug-only policy’ as crawling lice bugs are like chameleons; they blend with their environment and an untrained eye might be looking right at a bug but not see it. At BAHLIS, an organization established to treat head lice conditions and routinely screen school children for active head lice cases, we use a system and schedule for screening and treatment that works effectively, because we rely on being thorough the first time, because bugs are just too easy to overlook.
For effective prevention and intervention of head lice cases at the early stage, instead of relying on repeat treatments, we rely on being thorough the first time.
BAHLIS Concerns
At BALISS, we know words and gestures shape our perceptions and how we think and react to people. And so, BAHLIS' special efforts to make the screening experience more focused on reward and less on ridicule emphasizes that all students who participate in lice screening will benefit from a chance to win 4 free movie tickets after every school that screening BALISS performs.
Concerned about the common miss-perceptions and stigmas people develop about lice; concerned about the endless home remedies used that only prolong the condition; and concerned about the myths that circulate with peer pressures on students suspected of having contracted head lice, BAHLIS's approach to prevention and intervention in performance of routine whole-school-site screenings after each school break with a 12-14 day recheck provides a level of assurance that the preservation of dignity and privacy for all students and staff, is handled carefully to conceal the identity of any active case, while treating lice effectively.
But above all, our concern is that a shift to a “no live bug” policy will increase infestations and take an emotional toll on children, a financial toll on families, and a fiscal toll on schools in the long run, which can all be avoided with simple modification to the “no nit” policy.
Seeing is believing
As the cliche goes, seeing is truly believing. At BALISS, we have treated children who have been informed by a school representative that they had nits but no bugs, only to comb out 40 to 60 bugs. So while a child has nits, they may have bugs too, therefore it is essential that parents/guardians are equipped with the tools and information that will ensure effective handling of the sensitive and timely nature of the situation.
At BALISS, we are educated, trained and certified in the diligent care and effective non-toxic treatment of head lice. We know education, effective screening and early detection is key to intervention and prevention. This is why we provide an “All About Lice” workshop for parents, health professionals and school administrators, providing the tools and the knowledge people need to accomplish an all around effective outcome.
Meanwhile, as longs as schools do a routine screen after every vacation break with a 12-14 day recheck of those who tested positive initially, this is sufficient to provide take diligent care of a lice condition.
In the short-run, a school that adopts a "no live lice" policy may enjoy a temporary ADA improvement. However, in the long-run this action feeds the probability and likelihood of transfer of head lice from one host to another as only crawlers cross over: eggs/nits do not.
As long as head lice is a communicable condition that can be prevented with an effective routine screening schedule, then a modification to the "no nit" policy incorporating an effective screening schedule is the appropriate way to decrease absenteeism rather than shift in policy.
For more information on head lice visit http://www.headliceintervention.com