Lice hatches trouble at school

About 80 students have been reported with head lice at Hawes Elementary School, prompting the Huntington Beach City School District to send in extra health clerks and call a meeting for parents Friday.

The outbreak at Hawes started earlier this month and continued with four more cases reported Monday, Supt. Kathy Kessler said. She added that she didn’t know how the cases began at Hawes, but said lice is often spread by close contact, including sharing combs, hats or other objects.

“We have no idea why one school would have more trouble than another school,” Kessler said. “It’s not unusual to have lice show up at a school site where a lot of students are congregated.”

Health clerks, who inspected all Hawes students for lice in the previous weeks, are in their second round of inspections. The school has scheduled an informational meeting for parents at 3:30 p.m. Friday on campus.

The district follows what Kessler termed a “no nit” policy, meaning students are sent home if they have either hatched lice or eggs in their hair. If any student is found to have lice in the current round of inspections, Kessler said, that student’s entire class will be inspected again.