Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Kuna School Closed due to Headlice Outbreak

Did you read it in the news?  Onto our story.

A couple Saturdays ago Dejah had a double header softball game in Boise.  We were getting ready to go when the house phone rang.  Alex picked it up.  The next thing I know is that we are carpooling one of the girls.  I guess a Mom called and said she did not have the gas to get there.  (Well there went my plan for taking the family to lunch after the games were over)  (Ps.... I was kinda grouchy that morning so I wasn't in a compassionate mood.)  We all get ready to go and when the Mom shows up, two girls jump out of her car.  I look at my husband with ?????  The mom leaves and I had to pull Alex in the house to discuss this predicament.  First off, we only have room for ONE EXTRA when our whole family is in the van.  This meant we were going to have to take two cars, or some of us would be staying behind.  Well Alex decided to stay behind with the babies.  I was pretty upset, but off we went.  When the games were over the girls got back in the car and we headed home.  Now fast forward to Thursday.

Alex gets a call from one of the coaches informing us that two of the girls got sent home from school due to head lice.  They just wanted everyone to be aware because the girls share helmets.  My stomach just sank.  I just knew it was those girls.  Forgive me for being judgmental, but they were filthy.  I don't really blame the girls.  But it seems that Hygiene was not on the Moms list of priorities.  I just assumed that headlice had to do with cleanliness.  These girls had been in my car and one of them left her hat in my car which pretty much sat there until the next game.  In the mean time, that car is where my kids are on a daily basis.  I checked Dejah's hair and didn't see anything, but I still wanted to make sure she got checked at school.  So Friday morning I took her into the office and explained the situation.  After running a few errands in Kuna I stopped back at her school on the way home.  Just as I was leaving the office to go to her classroom a nurse walked in with Dejah.  The look on her face said it all.  NOOOOOO.  Really?  She showed me some nits in Dejah's hair and handed me some paperwork explaining what to do.  Thus began the NIGHTMARE weekend.  I treated everyone's heads in my family (even though Dejah was the only one with Nits) and we literally cleaned ALL Day Friday, Saturday, Sunday and finished up some on Monday.  We did take a few breaks which were extremely needed.  From the sound of it... we did way more than a lot of the parents, but there is no way I want that coming back.  Monday Dejah returned to school and we find out that school was being closed the next day due to the headlice.  Around 60 students and 9 staff were sent home!!!  Crazy!  They felt they needed to get the school cleaned and give the teachers some time to clean at home.  Her school is only K-3 so it was a big hit to the school.  Anyway that is our weekend in a nutshell.  Ps.  I was wrong about the lice being on people with bad Hygiene.  Apparently the lice don't care and ANYONE can get them.


3 comments:

  1. That is horrible... I always freak out when I hear there is lice at our school. I've heard it truly is such a nightmare to get rid of completely. I'm so sorry you had to deal with it. 60 kids with lice? That is CRAZY!!! I also heard hygiene has nothing to do with it that they actually cling better to clean scalps. Anyways.... On a side note, I would've been very upset for that family dropping off two girls and making it so you couldn't do what you had planned with your family. It's ok to say no once in awhile! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh my word - sounds like a nightmare! I am so sorry!

    ReplyDelete
  3. That sounds like a nightmare! I always worry about that now that my girls are in school. I had a lady in my old ward in Billings that told me that her school has a huge problem with head lice. Sorry you had to deal with that, hopefully it is not something you will ever have to deal with again!

    ReplyDelete