Change In Tulsa Public School's Head Lice Policy

Head lice are a health issue most elementary schools have to deal with just about every year. It's itchy, highly contagious and a chore to get rid of.

Tulsa Public Schools has a new policy on head lice this year and some parents are none to happy about it.

News on 6 reporter Ashli Sims says Heather Casebolt is just about at her wit's end, over nits.

Her 5 year old daughter has had two bouts with head lice in a month and a half. "It's very frustrating and it’s hard on her. She doesn't understand why I have to do this she gets upset because I have to look through her hair, it’s very stressful."

A nit is an egg of a head louse and it’s in the middle of a controversy over how schools handle head lice outbreaks. For years, if you had lice or nits, you were sent home from school. And you didn't come back until you were lice and nit free, but recently the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Association of School Nurses have come out against no-nit policies.

And Tulsa Public Schools changed its policy to only send kids with live lice home. Tulsa Public Schools spokesperson Maia Weaver: "that specifies that there is no medical reason to deny a child attendance in school because of the presence of nits."

Experts say you can't catch nits; they're glued to the strands of hair. The research says keeping kids with only nits out of school doesn't affect the spread of head lice, but it does hurt school attendance and student performance.

Tulsa Public Schools says it still checks heads three times a year for lice and they keep a close eye on students with nits, but Heather Casebolt was so upset, she passed out letters at her daughter's school. "A live lice bug lays the eggs so they're has to be a live on there to lay them in the first place."

Casebolt says her daughter's experience shows the new policy isn't working. And she wants the district to go back to sending kids with nits home.

Tulsa Public Schools reports that they have 143 more cases of head lice then this time last year. The district insists they're working with school nurses and parents to make sure kids with active head lice are getting treated and not infecting other students.