Vernon School Officials Addressing Summer School Lice Cases

Vernon education officials are addressing what they consider to be isolated cases of head lice in the summer school program.

Vernon Patch was made aware of the situation by a parent who said there were two instances at Maple Street School.

Superintendent of Schools Mary Conway responded to questions regarding lice promptly. She said a few children with lice is not unusual in a school.

She said things can get confusing when parents are unaware of the procedures.

School officials are not supposed to discuss specific names of children when speaking about things like lice.

When  a child is discovered to have lice, the nurse checks the heads of all the children it the classroom, Conway said.

Conway said the nurse sends out two letters. The first is distributed to all the parents for the room, informing them that there is a child in the classroom with lice and that their child has been checked and does not have them. It also educates the parents on what to look for and how to treat a child if lice are discovered, Conway said. 

The second letter goes directly to the parents of the child with lice and that letter includes treatment information," Conway said.

Conway said lice are less-common on the summer because the students are not either sharing knit hats or hanging their hats and coats next to each other.

Usually, the source of the lice is the home, she said.