With kids working and playing closely together in class at school, it’s easy for lice to crawl from one head to another. No matter how you cut it, it’s something parents just dread.
“It’s just one more thing to worry about on a very long list,” said parent Kim Reynolds.
At Gardenview Elementary in Montreal’s Saint-Laurent borough, a volunteer parent committee used to check for lice several times a year.
Grade 4 student Alyssa Triassi said she enjoyed getting her hair combed through during the examination.
“I find it’s useful because if there is lice going around, I am not getting it,” the nine-year-old said.
But the committee had to disband this year because of new English Montreal School Board (EMSB) lice guidelines.
“I disagree. I don’t mind — it’s not harmful,” said parent Angie Triassi. “It’s for the benefit of children. It’s better for families.”
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The EMSB says it’s simply following Quebec Health Department guidelines, which suggest lice checks should be done at home by parents and not in schools by volunteers.
“It’s not being done by parents in school any more,” said EMSB spokesman Mike Cohen. “Any school that might have that in place, they will revise their policies to explain that is no longer allowed.”
Cohen says there are only a handful of EMSB schools with individual, volunteer lice-checking committees. He says most schools already left it up to parents to check individually. He says teachers and school staff can still continue to check for lice if they suspect a child has it.
Cohen says the new protocol is partly to respect family privacy.
“There have been complaints from parents at some schools who are not comfortable with other parents checking their child’s head, making decisions,” Cohen said.
However, some experts say regular in-school lice checks are useful.
Wendy Schaffer-Berenbaum is an expert on lice. She calls herself the lice fairy, running a home business treating lice outbreaks.
She believes putting the burden of lice checks on parents isn’t fair.
“I think on top of everything they have to do, on top of homework and cleaning and bathtime and dinner and regular housework, and you are going to throw in lice checks? And they don’t know what they are looking for? No,” Schaffer-Berenbaum said.
READ MORE: ‘Anybody can catch it’: Winnipeg expert’s tips on how to keep kids from getting lice
At Ballantyne Elementary in Montreal West, the school principal says teachers are qualified to check for lice.
“We have two volunteer staff members and if a teacher feels that a student has lice, they will let them know,” Michael Brown said.
If a child has lice, the parents are notified, and the entire class gets a letter sent home warning of the lice outbreak.
The EMSB recommends to keep lice at bay, parents should thoroughly check hair once a week.
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