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Head Lice

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Head lice are a frequent occurrence in school settings. For excellent articles about the prevention and treatment of head lice, please check out these “Facts of Lice” pages on the City of Hamilton website.

Student webmasters R. A. and P. S. (Room 201) asked our principal, Mrs. Rawsthorn, questions about what happens when head lice are found on a child at Earl Kitchener. Here is what they found out:

Mrs. Rawsthorn said that usually a parent phones the school because they have discovered head lice on their child. Mrs. Edwards, the school secretary, writes a letter which is sent to the parents of all the students in that child’s class saying that head lice have been found. If lice are found on two people in the same class, then the school calls Bayshore, which is a screening agency. They send a professional to the school who uses a clean, single-use pair of wooden sticks for each person in the class to check their hair and scalp. They also check the students in the classes of any brothers or sisters of the student who was reported to have lice.

If the Bayshore person finds lice on anybody else during their check, they send a letter to that person’s parents saying that head lice have been found on their child. Bayshore also sends them a form which the parent must fill out and return to the school saying how the child was treated for the lice. A week later Bayshore sends someone back to the school to check again.

We asked Mrs. Rawsthorn for some advice about avoiding head lice. She said that you should never wear someone else’s hat. Sharing hats can transfer lice from one person to another. Mrs. Rawsthorn says that head lice are more of a nuisance than a problem.

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Updated on Thursday, May 15, 2014.
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