Got to love garfeild school. My kids didnt go to school today and no one called to find out where they were. I called them in the afternoon telling them my daughters got head lice from there. And this is what I was told "What do you want us to do about it?" Really you do not have enough common sense to check the children n find out who has it?? Or at least say we will look into it and see what we can do. Im glad our school system hires such intelligent staff. I had to tell them check the children so I dont send my children there and they get it again.

You needed to talk to the principal in that case.

Head lice has affect all the schools. The staff has no oblication to check as it's not there job. It is the parents job to keep on top of things like this. In schools that have school nurses, things like this would be checked by them. Give the staff at these schools a break they have enough on there hands with out having to be parents to your children as well. Why don't you do some reading up the matter. You will be surprised at what you read. For example: head lice can jump from one person to the other just by sitting beside them. Kind of like colds.

I'd like to know why letters weren't sent home to let other parents know.?. As far as the principle goes yeah right she has no clue she dont do her job as far as the rest nither do they!!!!!

Having had children at Garfield School for each of the last six years, I must say our personal experiences are of a far different kind. We have never been treated with anything but professionalism, caring and compassion.

I have to agree with Leann. In absence of an onsite school nurse, who is it that is expected to perform said head checks? Don't teachers and staff have more than enough to do dealing with ever-increasing bureaucratic paperwork, disciplinary problems and the actual education of their students? Why would this be the responsibility of the school's employees and not the parents of the child?

As far as the principle goes yeah right she has no clue she dont do her job as far as the rest nither do they!!!!!

There really isn't much to say here that isn't already apparent, other than I vehemently disagree.

I was talking to my friend in Iowa the other day and she was upset. She said that some children at the school where her grandkids attend, had head lice. The school no longer sends out notices, informing parents that head lice is present in the school. She had a lot more to say, but that was the short of it.

I wonder if sometimes we forget what a parent's responsibility is with regards to the health and well-being of their children.

I guess in this day and age it is safe to assume head lice will probably happen at most schools. It might be a great idea if we as parents do a periodic check of our children's hair.

Educators do have a lot more on their plates than ever and it would be virtually impossible to be checking 15-25 heads of hair.

Ok I guess its ok for a child not to show up to school and no one call to see what has happened the child. Maybe Chester decided to pick up a student?? And I was informing the school of the problem for other parents and so this problem does not get out of hand. In addition I cannot control other parents but I would expect the school to have the decency to look into it have the children who have the lice removed till treated. What if it was any other contagious illness? It wouldn't be the schools responsibility to protect them from illnesses. Now tell me how that's different. Isn't it the schools responsibility to protect the children? Does the school let children with the flu attend?? But it takes a lot of intelligence just let it go out of control right not inform anyone or do anything about it.

[This message has been edited by Judd (10/5/2011)]

Judd,
You are the ignorant one and I feel sorry for your children. If they were going to miss school WHY did YOU not call and inform the school? The school has their hands full with all of the illnesses going around Miles City right now. Teachers are ill. Subs are working. Maybe you should be thanking the school for taking care of your children and showing them how DECENT responsible people function in society!

As for where your children got head lice...hmmm...where have you been lately? Who did they interact with other than at school? Are you not their parent? Is it not your responsibility to take care of issues such as head lice? From your post it sounds as though you called the school expecting them to take care of the head lice problem with your children!

Add to all of the rest that there was a death in a Garfield School family.

Grow up. Act like an adult and care for your children.

Kacey, seriously? He kept his kids out to NOT spread it, and you're acting like he's asking the school to solve world hunger instead of notifying other parents, at the least, about the lice issue. He's being a responsible parent by taking care of his kids, and he's looking out for the interest of other kids as well by keeping his own from spreading it. As for the school not calling when his kids weren't there, sometimes things happen and people don't call right away. He called later in the day. The school, if they haven't been told by a parent that the kids were going to be absent, should call and notify the parents that their child isn't in attendance. If you disagree, look up Kyron Horman, who went missing from his school in Oregon last year.

For the record, I don't know Judd from the next guy, but I can see that he's at least being responsible and taking care of the issue. The need to attack him is rather ridiculous and appalling.

jessiker..
sometime things happen...this person had the kids home and couldn't find time to call the school until later on..but wanted the school to immediately call to check on the kids. Do you have any clue how much has to be done in a school in the mornings Obviously not.

This person wasn't trying to help other parents but posted simply to gripe about Garfield which is TOTALLY UNWARANTED.

By the way. Are you people telling me I should expect the school system not to care for my children when they attend. I should expect less from the school system. So we should sit back and have the mentality oh its just lice. No big deal. Right. Next it will be children are going missing from the school. Like they never had that problem before. No big deal right. Or the quality of eductation is not as high as the other schools. No big deal.. Thats a great mentality. In addition its my responsiblity to solve a problem created by neglect of the school right. I got a little experiment and you who think its no big deal. Show up to work with lice and see what happens. Can I be there to watch?

Yep your right Kacey. I like how you assume. So what if I dropped my children off at school and somewhere between dropping them off and class they disappear. No one should call right cause there to busy? If you do not see anything wrong with this wow. Go get your head checked. It does not matter if I was to busy to call or chose not to. That school still has the responsibility to make sure the children are safe. Ill make it easy for you. What would you think about a nieghbor who did not bother to check and see where there kids are at and make sure there safe. Or has a child with lice but chooses not to do anything about it. Thats a good parent right. I bet someone would be on the phone with DFS. So that is just fine for children to go unaccounted for right. In addition your saying its ok to let children go unaccounted for because they are busy? Yep thats a great attitude. But we should expect lower standards for our schools?? wow.

Nice cheap jabs Kacey. I take very good care of my children and know for a fact they did not get it anywhere but the school and I dont have lice. hmmm. Im not a decent person. ok thats funny. You tell me to grow up while you take childish jabs that are based on what facts?? Ok. Im so hurt. And like you said I was too busy to call the school. I am a single parent who works fulltime and working on a bachelors degree fulltime. I spent my morning combing out eggs out of my daughters hair the second time and washing everything so the lice dont just come back in a week and the girls dont miss to much school and make the problem worse. The girls can not even attend daycare until they are cleared by the public health nurse. So they wont attend school till then either. Im a terrible parent. I like your week premise though and your strawman tatics. They are very effective in an argument.. lol.

[This message has been edited by Judd (10/5/2011)]

First off, it is JUST lice. Fix your problem and move on. If there are any teacher that are looking at my children, in any other way then jus to teach them.... I WILL BE PISSED! They are not RNs or LPNs. Keep to what you are educated for! If there is something worng with my kids, I will have them looked at.

Those teachers, principal and other staff have many other things to do. They are working as hard as they can with the lack of money the are given. No one wants to work for nothing. And if you might want to work for nothing... Well solve one problem you talked about. The lack there of security! Post you behind out there as an extra recess aide. Dont just sit there and be mad about something YOU can fix!

Ok Toni you say its just lice why would you need a RN or the like to check them if just lice? I still cant believe how everyone is ok with unaccounted for children. I bet your tune would change if your child went missing and no one bothered to call you. It is not that far fetched even for a small community like this. All I am saying is school policy is that when children are not at school they are to be accounted for through the school calling the parents. That was not done. I realize lice would show up at school. It was the attitude that was not right. What do you want us to do about it? First of all inform people so it can be treated before the infestation becomes thick and harder to treat. Yes I researched lice way before I started this post. They can be very hard to treat. So why not take a few minutes to type up a note asking parents to check their children and have them treated at home. Then send the note home with the children. Wow thats so much work. But it is so much better just to sit back and let the problem get worse and have the whole school infested than take a few minutes and at least try to prevent or reduce the problem. In addition it could get costly if the infestation gets bad in the school. All pieces of fabric and many other items would have to be treated to stop infestation reoccuring. Thats a good option.

If you want things like nurses and such at school, raise your taxes and pay for them. The same goes for nice roads, etc, etc.

Judd, what was your stance on the issue of the School Resource Officer, the funding and need of the position?

I just want to set the record straight. The school did not call the parent to let him know his children were not at school because of head lice. This is because the school was called the afternoon before, not by the parent, to let us know that his two children had head lice and would not be in school the next day. Furthermore, the parent had made it very clear to the secretary earlier in the year that he did not want phone calls from the school. When I called to talk to him about this and explain that there are times when the school will need to call him, he hung up on me.

When he called the school after 1:00, the secretary was at lunch. I heard her replacement ask the person on the phone if he wanted to talk to the principal. He said no. I did not realize who was making the phone call until the replacement told me who the caller was.

When a case of head lice appears in a child at Garfield, we call the parents to let them know. We also check any children who are close associates of the infested child to make sure that they do not have lice. We also let the staff know so that they can be on the lookout for any signs of lice. We do not check all 270 children.

If you have any further questions about the procedures we follow at Garfield, please give me a call or email.

Laurie Huffman, Principal

Yeah, what Laurie said. She has no reason to lie.

Kudos to you, Mrs. Huffman. You and your staff have always done a wonderful job!

And, Kenny, is that you?

Judd,
I truly hope your children have some adult other than you for a role model as to how to deal with life.

Mrs. Huffman, thank you for your post.

To those working at Garfield, thank you.

Why is always the north-siders that are the most trouble?

The way people panic over head lice amuses me. There are a whole lot of contagious diseases that are more dangerous and more common than head lice but because you can SEE head lice, as opposed to microbes, people freak.

Head lice happen. Nothing to do with level of cleanliness or income or parental involvement. Just has to do with kids being filthy little beasts. Buy some shampoo, inform the school and the parents of your kid's friends, and get on with it.

Stay Calm and Carry On!

Just has to do with kids being filthy little beasts.

LMAO! That was great.. upvote for AA!

Amorette,
Remind me again..how many filthy little beasts did you have? You seem to know SO much about children. I personally don't feel the need to call them names. They are children. Just learning and growing. They deserve more respect from adults than you just gave them.

[This message has been edited by Kacey (10/6/2011)]

Get a grip Kacey.

Kacey: I am pretty sure that when Amorette says "kids being filthy little beasts" she means it in a very affectionate manner. The comment about her not having any kids seems a touch harsh. After all she is Bart's big sister. Is your funny bone broken again.

[This message has been edited by Richard Bonine, Jr. (10/6/2011)]

I definitely need a sign for the humor-impaired! Yes, I am childless by choice but I also spent a number of years as a nanny. Those kids are now grown, have kids of their own, and offered me my old job back taking care of their kids! I declined. What is a great job at 30 is less so at 50!

Kids are filthy. It is their nature. They are also sometimes beastly. Ask any parent, teacher and/or nanny! They also tend to be very affectionate, sharing hugs with their friends, their dog, anything squishy. Which is why they often acquire head lice.

Shampoo. Rinse. Repeat. Wash all towels and bed linens in HOT WATER. Watch for reappearance.

And for heavens sake! RELAX!!!!



Kacey has disliked me since her first posting for some reason but I am sure she is a perfectly delightful soul who just doesn't get my sense of humor. So I ignore her hissy fits and get on with my day.

I thought "filthy beasts" was being kind. Some of you people really need a valium. I was a filthy beast. So were you. So are your children. Tell me your 9 year old is a dream of a child and not at all a filthy beast, and I will tell you to wait 3 years, take off the rose colored glasses, and re-think that claim. Then go have a really good cry.

[This message has been edited by Mathew Schmitz (10/6/2011)]

Every time my child has been absent from Garfield School, and I forget to call or am too busy to call within the first 15-20 min. after school starts, I am called to see if he is coming to school or not. I am sure of this because I feel embarrassed and guilty for NOT calling. So, to any of you who doubt what Laurie is saying, believe her, as my son is a 6th grader this year, and it has happened more than once (I hate to admit.)

This is better than a sitcom! Thanks all of you for the entertainment.

My child has gone to both Jefferson and Garfield... I am mostly satisfied with my experiences with Garfield. The secretary takes a certain personality to deal with... but don't we all run into that somewhere?! Some days, she is very nice and others I feel like I'm interupting her. And I'm sure people have probably felt that way with me at work and elsewhere at times.

As per the head lice issue... I have been and remain under the belief that it is up to the parents to keep an eye on their children for any type of illness. My daughter got pink eye while at Jefferson and I simply took her to the doctor to remedy it. I checked my daughter's hair and called family and friends with kids in school when I heard about the head lice. It's pretty much a parental community mindset. It's not the school's job... beyond calling me to tell my child needs to be picked up because she is sick, etc.

No they can't do that but they can send out a notice every single day when your child's lunch account is getting close to zero. Notice I said getting close. Last year I had over ten dollars in the account and got a notice every day for two weeks. What a waste of paper and time! I think it could have been better served w a notice to check for head lice.

Thank you Mrs. Huffman for your post on the matter. For the record I think you all do a wonderful job on taking care of our children!! =D

Matthew...
Maybe YOU were a filthy beast but how dare you call others and children that! There are amazing children in this world right now. By the way, weren't you ever told it's wrong to call names?

Where did Judd go? I'm curious why he just dropped out of this after Mrs. Huffmans post.

[This message has been edited by Kelly (10/7/2011)]

Kacey. It's Mathew. With 1 T. Matthew? How dare you call me a name like that?
Of course there is amazing children in this world. All kids are amazing, for a small percentage of the time. Thankfully that percentage increases as they age. Amorette is right. You need to relax a bit. I love kids. I married a woman that had 3. But they were at times beastly. They know it now, and would take no offense at me saying it. The 8 year old boy couldn't hit the toilet if he was sitting down. Filthy? I'd say so. But I didn't love him any less because of it. A good friend of mine caught her 5 year old boy peeing on the carpet in the living room a few days ago. She gently reprimanded him, went into her bedroom, closed the door and laughed her butt off. As she was telling me the story, she rolled her eyes, and referred to him as a "dirty little bugger" Does that make her a bad mom? Of course it doesn't. Kids are gonna be filthy, and beastly at times. It's not a commentary on who they will grow up to be. And certainly not a commentary on your parenting skills. You would do well to not take these things so seriously. Life's a whole lot easier if you can laugh your way thru it. Cause it's funny. Just like Amorettes "filthy beast" comment was funny.

When my kids went to school...I sent them each with a trashliner to hang on their coat hook and had them put their coat in the trashliner. One of the ways lice spreads is by their coats because they are all smashed together on the rack. Back then and yup, quite a long time ago lol, the school ended up recommending it for all the kids and it really cut down on the lice spreading. Just a thought.

I know that there is head lice shampoo at the MT. Beauty Shop & Supply house down town. I am sorry about the cases od head lice.

This thread has made me HUNGRY!!!!

Any 5 year old child that pees on the carpet isn't being taught right from wrong. The mother is laughing at this? You can bet the child heard her and thinks it's ok to do that now even with a small reprimand. I don't understand what is so funny about this. C'mon mom, it's your responsibility to teach the child, not laugh at disgusting acts.

Yeah, make sure that your 5 year old knows you think he's disgusting. That'll be a great character builder.

First of all I never once told the school not to call me. They were calling me up to 3 times a day for paperwork when I made previous arraignments to provide the paperwork on Friday due to I was working out of town. I told them they did not need to call me over twice daily for a week for this paperwork. Secondly I never once gave anyone else authority to call in my children to school. So make me out however you want. It doesn't bother me in the least.

Judd, did you have this diagnosed by the County Health Department or another healthcare provider? They would notify the school.

[This message has been edited by Mary B. (10/7/2011)]

Lice goes around schools. It was another grade school last year that was severely infested...one from the "good" side of town. So accept the fact that it happens and move on. It is up to the parents to notice if their children have lice! Any parent who pays any amount of attention will notice their child scratching and itching. Go buy some lice shampoo and a comb and take care of it. Wash your bedding and your towels and clothing. Done deal.

No I just treated them and took them to Health dept. today to clear them for school. I did not get all the lil buggers yet though. Round 2 of treatment..

while an infestation of head lice on a child can be uncomfortable, the critters do not pose enough of a contagious hazard to justify the strict policies that many schools use to keep infected children out of class, according to a new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

http://www.time.com/time/...97,00.html

...the Times, they are a-changing.


FH

Wendy-You don't let the child know they are disgusting, you let them know that peeing on the carpet is disgusting and unacceptable behavior. Somewhere along the 5 year old's life they have seen this and copied this behavior. You should think through what I wrote first before you make an idiotic response.

Somewhere along the 5 year old's life they have seen this and copied this behavior

OK? So, how many people pee on the carpet for this to be a learned behavior?

[This message has been edited by K. D. (10/9/2011)]

Who knows where..Have you watched tv lately?

Only takes 1.

And there you have it...

And why not? Our lambs and kids learn about secret passages through fences watching our dogs.

if your kid has lice... either wash their hair or cut it.
if your kid pees on the carpet.. rub their nose in it.. (works for dogs,why not kids?)

what is it about conversations to do with elementary schools that brings out child like arguments in people?







(no i would never really rub my kids' nose in pee).

You don't let the child know they are disgusting, you let them know that peeing on the carpet is disgusting and unacceptable behavior.

Maybe that's what you say but most 5 year-olds have little ability to distinguish between the two if you use the word disgusting.

I still don't understand why the mother would think her kid peeing on the carpet is funny. Maybe that's the problem right there. And I am not arguing Gm Bonine. Just having a great time this weekend. Cheers to everyone.

[This message has been edited by Gail (10/9/2011)]

Gail, I was referring mostly to Judd and Kacey. Glad you are having a good day.

When I went to Garfield, in 4th grade, there wasn't any head lice. But there was a 5th grade girl as annoying as I would imagine head lice being...

Well after trial and error and a little bit of research. I found out that Rid is not as effetive to killing lice, due to the lice beginning to build a resistance to it. I found hair die to be the most effective option. I used this on my children and it did the trick. In addition the conditioner made the eggs very easy to comb out even the smaller ones. I found this to be easier than olive oil to remove the eggs. Just FYI

so... what color did you use?

I'm sure glad I missed this thread before spending the past weekend in Miles City, or else I would have been paranoid about being around those filthy little beasts you all call offspring.

I saw several of them in WalMart, playing with smartphones with their vermin-infested fingers. Yucch!