The Amarillo Independent School District has announced that it will be in compliance with a new state law that took effect this month.
Senate Bill 1566 will require a school district to notify the parents of students in an affected grade level when a classmate has head lice. The law requires the district to notify parents within five days of the occurrence's discovery. Under federal law, the district will not identify the student that has head lice.
AISD will also be required to inform the parents of the student with head lice within 48 hours of the lice being discovered.
School nurses are set to provide guidance to parents of students who have head lice. After the head lice is discovered, the nurses will send the parents a letter with treatment information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Nurses will also be able to offer head lice treatment products to the affected student. Those products have been funded through a grant to AISD.
AISD says that head lice is a common occurrence that has nothing to do with the cleanliness of a school or home. Students with head lice will not be sent home early from school and can be treated that evening and return to school the next day.
For more information, visit amaisd.org.
