In Support of Lice in Schools

If a kid is identified as having lice in school they should be sent home immediately.  Right?

Not necessarily, according to some moms on my local email group.  In the midst of a lice outbreak, we learned that our local public school system is no longer allowed to send children identified as having lice home.  A lively debate has ensued over whether children with lice should be sent home immediately or allowed to stay in school and potentially infect other children.

On one side are the parents who find lice unsanitary and highly contagious and consider it a matter of public health and common courtesy to send infected children home. 

On the other side are those who claim that lice “gets blown out of proportion, considering the near non-existent risks.”    They quote research showing that lice is often misdiagnosed, that it is not a health hazard and that it is not as contagious as most people think and “a few extra hours isn’t going to make much (if any) difference in the long run. They have already been around for weeks by the time they’re found. Everyone has been exposed.”  In short, they believe that “my losing hours at the office and my children losing instruction at school isn’t justifiable in my opinion.”

While I understand the hassle of canceling meetings or sacrificing billable hours can be a hardship, I also think that keeping a child who has been diagnosed with lice at school imposes an unnecessary hardship on the other families at the school.

What do you think?