Busybodies

I received an email from a secretary several weeks ago at one of my elementary schools that a parent had called to report that a student - not her own - had lice. I archived the email immediately, because I cannot believe every parent complaint, particularly concerning lice, where people like to point fingers. 

I received a second email last week that this other parent had called again to complain that the student still had lice, and that she would be calling the district office if no action was taken. This time I replied to the secretary that I would check the student, but it's no business of the other parent's whether or not the child has lice, and she should feel free to call the district office. 

She called again today, and again reported the lice. This time, she spoke with the principal, and informed him she has already made a report to the district office about this. She still wanted to talk to me, though, so with great dread I called her after lunch. She was surprisingly pleasant as I explained that I would not be reporting the results of the lice check to her, but that I had in fact checked the student, and also that the board policy is that students can remain in school with lice. (This was one of those instances where I take no credit for instigating this board policy...) She thanked me at the end of the call, and all was well. 

Here's the craziest part of this whole debacle to me: there was no lice! I did a *thorough* check, assuming if this parent was willing to go so far as to complain to the district office, that there must be a really obvious case of lice, but no. 

Some people are just busybodies.