Looking for advice for a school nit checking programme

amother

Sat, Mar 02 2024, 2:18 pm

I've been a teacher for a few years but since my 3rd child was born I decided it would be too much much for me. Before my baby was born I gave in my notice but asked if there are any easier jobs like one-to-one or a classroom assistant.
I got a call from the principal a few days ago asking me if I'd consider running a...nit checking programme!

My first instinct was to laugh it off, like thanks but no thanks Very Happy

.

But as I heard more details I thought why not? It's in a school environment which I wanted, yet without the pressure and no prep outside the hours I'd work. Even better the hours are flexible meaning I could work it out to fit in with my kids preschool schedules, and even better the school has on-site childcare and while there isn't space full time, there are some time slots available if I'm willing to be a bit flexible.

So I've decided to take it. I'd like to make it work, but as the school hasn't done this before there's no schedule or programme to work from. So moms and nit checkers out there, any pointers for me?

How much do you charge per child/family?
How often does each class get checked?
What do you do if a child has lice regarding cleaning and rechecking?
What do you do if a child keeps getting and you don't have cooperation from the mom?
Do you pay for woman to help with checking or work with a volunteer rota of mothers? (I remember my mom coming in to do lice checks monthly when I was in elementary).

TIA!

Tzutzie

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 5:10 am

Call up a school that already has an established lice checking program and speak to them.
My kids school has it. I can share how it goes.
Up to 5th grade they check the kids in class. Every kid gets a card that has 2 boxes and gets checked off if they are clean, a few nits or infested.
Noone other than the kid and parents see what's on the card. Unless the child shares it... but they always tell the kids NOT to share it. It's private. If a kid has nits she can inly come back to class after she is clean. There are ladies who will clean it out for a fee. Or the mother can do it and for I think $5 do a recheck then the kid can go back to class.

They send home a note a few days before that in the next week or so they will check.
5th grade and up every 3-4 months you need to do to someone's house to check your hair for a small fee. They don't do it in school anymore.
And my 5th grade has had lice 3x already this year. Whereas she rarely ever had before. I understand they are older and its embarrassing but it just shows how well the program works.

Before the school year starts and before camp starts, first half and second half you also have to go check at someone's house. Without a card you cannot go into class/bunk.

I check my kids every week or 2 just in case
Begining of the year my 5th grader tells me she has a friend who's a really sweet girl but she's always scathing her head. She felt sorry for her. I told her to keep her hair in a pony tail at all times. But it still didn't help.
I can't imagine how a kid can learn with a itcht head full of lice away. Or maybe the kid is giving the mother hell and won't let anyone clean her. Who know.

I told her once to be careful in general but to share hair accessories, hats, sweaters or coats for fun. (If there is a need def share but not for FUN) and to keep her head away from cramming over something together.... but kid will be kids.
.

amother

Navyblue

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 5:19 am

I'm Monsey schools check before school starts. They have the nit lady and other volunteers come to help out. Then the nit lady comes back a few times a year to check. There's a fee for the year per child or per family.

When I was growing up we had to be checked by a parent every week too.

I think they like to check after Pesach, because ppl go away then and can bring back nits and lice.

I once checked for nits in a sem in Israel. I charge 5 shekel per person. Someone trained me in.

Depending where you live you can check more or less. Some countries or communities have more than others. If the school has never done this before than they may have more cases.

amother

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 5:47 am

Tzutzie wrote:

Wow thank you! Lots of helpful tips here.

amother

Cadetblue

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 7:08 am

amother OP wrote:

Wow thank you! Lots of helpful tips here.

To add to tzutzie-
They always do it around Rosh Chodesh time, so we always know this is the time they’ll be checked. One school my kids went to, sent home a note a couple of days prior to remind the parents and give them a chance to check before.

If your child has to be cleaned they can’t come back to class the next day without a note that it’s taken care of.
(We had a situation once where I was in the hospital with a different child and school staff was so nice and accommodating- got a teacher or secretary to take my daughter to be cleaned so it shouldn’t be my problem then and not to infest the class).

How big is the school? Is it the type you can do a couple of classes and rotate over the span of a few days per month or you would need to do it over a month or regardless need help?

amother

Lightpink

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 7:15 am

My kids school charges a $25 yearly fee per kid. Each addition sibling is $20. The kids get checked before the school year & then the lady comes down to school once a month to check the girls. If a girl has nits/lice, she can't go back to school till she's clean. The nit checking lady charges a $120 fee to clean the girls head.
OP, you have to know how to check hair properly & how to remove.

amother

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 7:23 am

amother Cadetblue wrote:

It's not a huge school, about 25 kids per year although the younger grades have more with two parallel classes per grade. About 150 kids total.

The principal said some of the classroom assistants are happy to assist, which would enable each girl to be checked every 3 to 4 weeks, but wonder if the kids would be embarrassed should their teacher find them with lice... Although this program is being implemented because teachers have been noticing scratching and lice falling onto desks so they know anyway.

amother

Smokey

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 7:30 am

First get someone to train you on how to check, where nits are most commonly find how to know what's definitely a not.
I was trained as a young teenager in sleep away camp when there was a big breakout and they needed some older campers to help clean heads. They paid us. There were kids who had really long hair and they wouldn't allow the camp to cut it. We picked nit by nit. I'd also check my classmates in sem but didn't charge.

amother

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 7:33 am

amother Lightpink wrote:

I've had training simply because I wanted to know how to clear my own girls effectively. They have very thick hair and have caught lice on occasion and BH I learned how to clear it and keep it clear. Not 100% 100% of the time but 98%.

Additionally the principal would like to pay me to watch a couple of professional nit checkers.
Incidentally I was recommended to the principal by a friend who knew I was good at this...it all came together because the principal knew I was looking to return but in a different capacity then my previous job there.

amother

Pearl

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 9:36 am

In our school in Cleveland, BH you do not pay for standard lice checking.

The school nurse arranges volunteers to do quick checks of the whole school. (The type that IMHO if you had 2 lice or 2 nits they wouldn't find it.)

They do school wide checks the week before school and in school immediately after sukkos, Chanukah, and pesach vacations.

If someone has lice, I guess their mother can pay privately to it to be dealt with, but that's not a school program.

amother

Pearl

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 9:37 am

amother OP wrote:

Anyone have any advice on different combs that are more/less effective for thin/thick hair?

Also if a child is consistently infested, are you allowed to insist that the mom apply lice lotion even through she prefers not to and just combs?

Why is a kid consistently infested?
If this is not Israel, she should be getting to the root of the problem.

amother

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 9:54 am

amother Pearl wrote:

Why is a kid consistently infested?
If this is not Israel, she should be getting to the root of the problem.

Either because the mother is doing a cursery check but never clearing poperly to allow the kid back into class or the kid has thick hair and just combing is not sorting it.

In some cases the moms are happy to be educated, in others they want to go 'natural' and are against chemicals. In the latter, do you think it's okay to insist they use lice lotion? It's unfair because it causes the kids whose moms are on top of it to keep catching.

Thoughts?

amother

Smokey

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 10:13 am

amother OP wrote:

Every last nit needs to be picked out. All linen washed and rewashed on hot cycle. All brushes and all hair accessories soaked in HOT water. That's the only way.

amother

Bluebell

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 10:27 am

Our school has a similar program to tutzie’s.
Every beginning of the chodesh there is a reminder over the weekend.
Then on Monday/Tuesday a few ladies come around to each classroom and do a quick check, specifically behind the ears for mits.
I each child gets a sheet with one box checked - clear - some nits - many nits/lice.
Kids then have another chance to be checked in Wednesday.
Anyone who is still not clear by then needs to see someone outside of school.

School offers ladies to clean for you for a price, don’t remember
School also sends home in the welcome package in beginning of the year, tips. Like which brands combs, products, shampoos, conditioners etc.

It is very efficient and effective bh.

(Personally I made myself a habit to comb my daughters’ hair every Thursday after the bath to make sure they’re still clear. I dont want to be caught with a surprise infestation. If they aren’t, I will keep cleaning.)

FYI Nits/lice have a lifecycle of 30 days.
Nits can survive about a week off head. Lice 1-2 days.

amother

Dill

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 11:14 am

At my daughter's school they check before school starts. We make appointments so they can spread out the crowds. It's also the day we can drop off school supplies so the girls don't have to schlep everything on the bus by themselves on the first day of school.

The school brings in a professional lice checking company and they set up 3-4 stations in the auditorium with bright lamps and some sort of wooden long toothpick/skewer things to help them part hair easily. Everyone gets checked off a master list. If they catch lice/nits, then the girls have to be cleared before being allowed to start school.

There are set dates that they check the girls throughout the year, usually right after a major break from school such as the first day back after Succos, Winter Break, and Pesach. If lice breaks out in a class then everyone in that class is checked as soon as possible and girls are sent home if they find anything and not let back into school until they are cleared. Often sibling classes are checked as well to make sure it doesn't spread throughout the school.

We pay a set fee at the beginning of the school year which covers all checking done in school. Anyone who misses a scheduled lice check after vacation is responsible for getting checked on their own and paying for it separately in order to be allowed back in school.

There was once an outbreak in my daughter's class and DD must have caught it too, because I got a call from school to come pick her up. Of course it was a Friday, sigh. DD was sent home with a note clearly stating what had been found. I hired someone to come to my house and check all of us and clean out DD's hair. B"H the rest of us were fine, but it was a stressful erev Shabbos with tons of extra laundry and everything. DD needed a note stating she was clear in order to be allowed back into class on Monday.

amother

Cadetblue

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 8:14 pm

amother OP wrote:

You can still effectively take care of the problem without using pesticide stuff.
I use natural lice shampoo and oils. Are they as effective? no. But as long as you’re on top of the situation and comb well when infested, and comb weekly or so to make sure you stay clean- who cares how you got rid of it.
I would be upset if I was forced to put chemicals. But again, I take care of the problem as it arises and generally try to stay on top of the situation to avoid infestation.