School nurses might have to review their head lice policies after a new report recommends that children not be sent home when the tiny bugs show up on their students’ heads. The American Academy of Pediatrics on Monday released a study which urges schools not to send children home when head lice, or nits, are present.

"Most researchers agree that no-nit policies should be abandoned," the report reads. "No healthy child should be excluded from or allowed to miss school time because of head lice." Nits are lice eggs. It is the first time AAP has updated its lice report since 2002. The report was undertaken to take a look at some of the new medical treatments that have been developed since the 2002 report.

And while some new chemical treatments are available to parents, the bottom line, the authors say, is that lice is not enough of a medical threat to warrant missing class time. "Head lice are not happy to live with, but they are not the public health problem they were once though to be," Windham Northeast Superintendent Johanna Harpster said.

Harpster said the WNESU district wide board established a head lice policy and then each school board adopted the rule independently.

Even though the new AAP report strongly suggests that children remain at school, Harpster said she still expects calls from angry parents whose children are exposed to head lice form other students.

"If we find lice then we give parents recommendations on how to get rid of them. But they go home, and get a shampoo and then they should be back the next day," she said. "It’s an annoyance, but we have more concerns about kids missing school."

The report found that not only does sending children home fail to protect others, but screening for nits is not an accurate way to predict how widespread the lice infestation might be.

The authors do say that education is important, and they encourage parents to check their children periodically.

But they say school screenings are a waste of time and money.

"Screening has not been shown to be cost effective," the report reads. "Because of the lack of evidence of efficacy, routine classroom or school wide screening should be discouraged."

Emily Pastore, the state school nurse consultant with the Vermont Department of Health, said the department has recommended for years that children not miss school because of head lice, but across the state, local school boards set their own policy.

"Some do and some don’t," Pastore said about the range of policies across Vermont. "It is a hot topic for discussion every year."

Vermont’s local school boards each develop their own policy, and the health department has no real power to force a state wide standard. From a medical standpoint, Pastore said, there is no advantage to sending children home, and not allowing them back until every nit is gone.

"There is no public health threat form this," she said. "And it is not as contagious as people think." Windham Central Superintendent Steven John, said schools are also making more of an effort not to make children feel bad when head lice does show up.

Along with downgrading the school’s response, John said it was important that parents and children not be singled out during an infestation. "We have policies and procedures and education is number one. Children should be in their classroom," he said. "It’s just a natural occurrence. I think the public humiliation and embarrassment can be more of a problem."