New head lice procedures in the Warren County School District may not go far enough, according to at least one parent.

Martha Dexter was dismayed last Friday morning when she found nits head lice eggs in the hair of her daughter, a second-grader at Warren Area Elementary Center. Dexter said it is the third consecutive year her daughter has had head lice while attending a Warren County School District school.

"There's got to be a problem," Dexter said.

Dexter said she has been doing all she can to keep lice at bay, but her preventative measures failed.

Rituals of using the natural lice repellant tea tree oil, pulling her daughter's hair back in a ponytail, and placing the child's coat and hat in a plastic bag at school did not ward off the itchy little creatures.

Her daughter did not attend school last Friday, but Dexter called the school nurse to draw attention to the situation.

Dexter said she told the nurse that perhaps the other youngsters in the classroom should be checked as a proactive measure. However, that suggestion does not follow the school district's procedure.

According to head lice procedures published in the school district's handbook for the parents of elementary children, "classroom checks will be done by the school nurse when 20 percent of the students in a classroom has been discovered to have a new incident of head lice."

Dexter does not agree with the parameters or the procedures.

"Once one child in the classroom has it, I think the rest of the students should be checked," she said. "Do you have to wait until it gets out of control to do something?"

Amy Stewart, director of technology and information management for the school district, said the head lice procedures were revamped at the conclusion of the 2007-2008 school year. A committee, which included parents, revised the procedures and the school board reviewed them.

"I think they're good," Stewart said of the procedures.

Dexter said she was told by the school nurse that she should have received information regarding head lice.

"(The school) didn't send out the information before school started," she said.

The procedures state, "All families will be mailed an initial Head Lice Letter prior to the start of the school year."

Stewart said the information will be sent out in the nine-week report cards to ensure that the information is sent to the right address.

Again, that was not good enough for Dexter.

"That's three weeks away," she said. "That's another three hatchings of lice."

She was also miffed by another part of the procedure.

The procedure states, "Arrangements will be made for the nurse to inspect the student for re-entry."

Dexter had two problems with that procedure. First, the procedure was not followed. She said her daughter returned to school without being checked.

Her second problem revolved around logistics.

"The school nurse doesn't start work until 11:30 (a.m.)," she said. "Will my child just sit there until the nurse shows up?"

In terms of logistics, Stewart pointed out the word "arrangement." She said the nurse from Warren Area High School could be may available to check the student.

Dexter's said her fight to kick head lice out of WAEC is an attempt to not only prevent the reoccurrence of lice on her daughter, but also to spare other parents the trouble.

She said battling head lice is a financial burden in that preventative and treatment shampoos are expensive. Also, there is the cost of washing all the bedding and other garments.

"How many people in Warren County can afford this?" she asked.

Head lice also puts stress on the parents, she said, who try not to let them spread throughout the household.

"What am I supposed to tell my daughter, you can't lay in Mommy and Daddy's bed because you have bugs?" she asked.

Dexter has contacted the local Department of Health and the state Department of Health's northwest district office in an effort to gain another opinion of the current procedures.

"I was told that they can't tell the district to change their policy," she said. "They can only make suggestions."

Dexter said she hopes that the more proactive measure she suggests helps prevent the spread of lice in the future.

"When you have a school that big, you have to do something," she said.