School Nurse Information
     

Our AG Bell School Nurse is Amy Jo Root (send e-mail)

 
 

 

Head Lice

 

Head lice are harmless and do not carry any disease. They are not a health hazard or a sign of poor hygiene, but they can be a nuisance. Lice cannot jump, hop or fly. They are spread by head to head contact. Sharing clothing, combs, brushes or hats can also pass them along to another person.  Children are most prone to get head lice because they tend to have close physical contact with each other and often share personal items. Please remind your child they should not share combs, brushes, hats or other clothing.

 

Live lice are gray to brownish in color, about the size of a flea, and look like a tiny crab.  Nits are tiny, teardrop shaped transparent eggs that are attached tightly to the hair and cannot be removed without sliding the nit down the hair shaft. The nits are found usually at the nape of the neck, behind the ears, on the crown of the head and close to the scalp.  Dandruff or dry scalp flakes can be easily brushed away.

 

If your child is identified with lice, the school nurse will give you information on treatment options.  All students with head lice must be excluded from school and remain at home until treatment is completed and all visible evidence of lice or eggs (nits) is removed. No child will be readmitted to school unless first checked by a district representative in the school office. A parent or guardian should accompany their child when they return to school.

 

For privacy reasons, a student with head lice will not be identified to staff or other students, except staff that provide re-checks and re-entry to school. For the same reasons, letters will not be sent to the parents of a class for a single case of lice in that class. When there are three or more students in a classroom with lice who don’t have close contact except at school, within a consecutive two-week period, the whole class will be screened. We send a letter home with students to the parents of that class, since transmission within the class is possible. Letters are sent only to the parents of the class involved. Remember, transmission can only happen with head to head contact or sharing items that have contacted the head such as combs, brushes, or hats.

 
Too Sick for School?
When to keep your sick child home from school
Lake Washington School District works with King County Department of Public Health to help protect children from spreading communicable diseases. Keeping children home when they are too sick for school protects other students and staff from potential illness.

Symptoms that child is too sick for school
If your child has any of the following symptoms, please keep him/her home, or make appropriate child care arrangements. It will be necessary to pick your student up from school as soon as possible if he/she shows any of the following symptoms at school:

  • Fever: temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. Child must not have a fever for 24 hours before returning to school.
  • Vomiting: child should not return to school for 24 hours following the last episode of vomiting
  • Lice, scabies: children may not return to school until they have been treated and are free of lice and nits (eggs). Children with scabies can be admitted after treatment.
  • Diarrhea: more than one watery stool in a 24 hour period, especially if the child acts or looks ill
  • Chronic cough and/or runny nose: continual coughing and greenish nose discharge. Conditions may be contagious and may require treatment from your health care provider.
  • Sore throat: especially with fever or swollen glands in the neck
  • Rash: body rash, especially with fever or itching
  • Ear infection: with fever. Without fever can attend school, but the child may need medical treatment and follow-up. Untreated ear infections can cause permanent hearing loss.
  • Eye infection: Eye infection: pink eye (conjunctivitis) or thick mucus or pus draining from eye
  • Unusual appearance, behavior: abnormally tired, pale, lack of appetite, difficult to wake, confused or irritable. This is sufficient reason to exclude a child from school.

LWSD Health Information

 
 

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