Nurse News
Notes from Nurse Allen
September 17, 2020
National Head Lice Prevention Month
Plano ISD follows the Centers for Disease Control and the Texas Department of State Health Services recommendations, and the position papers of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Association of School Nurses in the treatment and attendance guidelines for lice re-admittance to school.
- The scientific evidence supports the practice that exclusion from school for nits alone is not indicated. In unusual circumstances, the Plano ISD Administration and the school principal reserve the right to modify these recommendations during unusual episodes.
- The best treatment is prevention. Throughout the school year, check your child's hair weekly and after overnight visits with other children. Symptoms of head lice may not be evident for several weeks after exposure. Educate your children to avoid spread of lice by head-to-head contact, sharing hats, combs, brushes, etc.
- Eggs (nits) not killed by treatments will continue to hatch within 7-10 days. All nits should be removed to prevent reinfestation and permit early recognition of any new infestation.
School Response to Head Lice
- Once live lice have been identified, the parent will be contacted for treatment to begin.
- After treatment has begun and there are no live lice, the student should be checked by the school nurse prior to re-entry to school.
- Occasionally, a classroom screening may be conducted if the principal and/or nurse is concerned that an infestation may be more widespread than one or two students. However, entire classroom evaluations and routine screenings are generally not productive and result in decreased instructional time due to classroom disruption.
Please check the links below for more detailed information.
Lice Information and Resources
2020 - 2021 Flu Season is Coming
When to keep your child home from school
A student with any of the following symptoms must be excluded from school until such time as the student is free of symptoms, has been satisfactorily treated or submits a signed physician’s statement that he/she is not contagious.
Please note: students with symptoms likely to be Covid-19 or that have been diagnosed with Covid-19 will adhere to the return to school requirements specific to Covid-19 symptoms as detailed below.
- Temperature of 100.0 degrees or more without other symptoms. Student must be fever free for 24 hours, without requiring the use of fever-reducing medication, before re-entry.
- Undetermined rash over any part of the body accompanied by fever.
- Undiagnosed scaly patches on the body or scalp.
- Nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. Student must be symptom free for 24 hours, without medication, before re-entry.
- Red, draining eyes.
- Intense itching with signs and symptoms of secondary infection.
- Open, draining lesions that cannot be contained in a clean, dry bandage.
- Symptoms likely to be Covid-19: at least two of the following symptoms: fever/chills, fatigue, body/muscle aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea/vomiting or diarrhea or at least one of the following symptoms: cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing.
- Quarantine Period for symptoms likely to be Covid-19: The individual may return to school/work when fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication AND at least 10 days have passed since symptom onset OR until the individual receives a negative PCR or antigen test OR until the individual receives a doctor's note indicating an alternative diagnosis for the symptoms and releasing the individual to return to school/work.
- Quarantine Period for Confirmed Covid-19: The individual may return to school/work when fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication AND at least 10 days have passed since symptom onset AND symptoms have improved.
Other September Health Observances
Contact Information
Email: christina.allen@pisd.edu
Website: https://www.pisd.edu/domain/233
Location: 7500 Marchman Way, Plano, TX, USA
Phone: 469-752-2309