School-Family Communication about Lice Issues
One important means to control a head lice outbreak is communication with families and staff. The bottom line is this: staff and families must know when head lice are present in the school community so they can check their children and begin the eradication process if they find it.
Here are ideas for communicating with families:
- Each time a case of head lice is found, send home a note to that class, and to siblings’ classes.
- E-mail or send a weekly bulletin telling how many cases have been reported as well as “closed.”
- Invite a health-care professional to be a guest speaker at a special event.
- Respectfully ask all parents to notify you if their child or children are found to have head lice—even if it’s during a break or weekend and children have already been treated.
