Information for the Parents/Guardians of Trinity Elementary School students concerning ticks and illnesses related to tick bites:

Due to the wooded rural environment surrounding the Trinity Elementary School campus, it is advisable, especially at this time of the year to be aware of the increased possibility of our students and staff to exposure to ticks and illnesses that can be transmitted to us by bites from ticks.

Williamson County Schools has taken measures to contact the communicable disease and environmental offices of our local and state health department for specific measures and procedures to follow and strategies to use if advised for any of our school campuses including Trinity Elementary, that are found to have a tick population which could contribute to an increased risk of contracting illnesses that come from ticks. Currently, the measures that have been recommended to us are to use ordinary and reasonable measures of prevention and control of exposure to ticks.

The following 3 precautions are recommended by the CDC to use as protective measures when exposed to natural areas where ticks are present.

1. Wear light-colored clothing which allows you to see ticks that are crawling on your clothing. Tuck your pants legs into your socks so that ticks cannot crawl up the inside of your pants legs.
2. Apply repellents to discourage tick attachment. Repellents containing permethrin can be sprayed on boots and clothing, and will last for several days. Repellents containing DEET (n, n-diethyl-m-toluamide) can be applied to the skin, but will last only a few hours before reapplication is necessary. Use DEET with caution on children.
3. Conduct a body check upon return from potentially tick-infested areas by searching your entire body for ticks. Use a handheld or full-length mirror to view all parts of your body. Remove any tick you find on your body.

CHECK children for ticks, especially in the hair, when returning from potentially tick-infested areas. Ticks may also be carried into the household on clothing and pets and only attach later, so both should be examined carefully to exclude ticks. Limiting exposure to ticks is presently the most effective method of prevention.

We must be careful when dealing with any application of chemicals, including both the actual application onto a child’s skin and/or clothing, or in a large scale broadcast over an environmental area. School staff will not be permitted to apply chemicals to students’ clothing or skin while at school due to time constraints and chemical sensitivity of other students.

Currently, WCS maintenance department does and will spray controlled mulched playground areas if ticks are found to be highly populated in those areas. They do have plans to monitor and spray the mulched playground areas of Trinity Elementary School with the cooperation of the weather. They are currently investigating the types of chemical treatments that may be recommended specifically for a larger broadcast treatment and will proceed to do this as advised by our Department of Health.

Increased education and awareness activities are planned in the classrooms as well to help the students know how to check themselves for ticks, what to look for, and how to remove them safely. The younger children will have staff check their exposed skin areas as they are able after coming in from being outside. It is imperative that parents/guardians take an active role in checking their students when they come home from school or from any outdoors activities as well for the presence of ticks. Ticks can travel without being detected over the body and can attach themselves anywhere on the body. If ticks are found on exposed areas of the body at school, parents/guardians will be contacted. Any ticks removed with permission of parent/guardians will be kept and sent home with the student in a sealed plastic bag. CDC recommends that they be placed in the freezer for storage.

Initial symptoms indicating an exposure to an illness that can be contracted from tick bites include:
fever, nausea, vomiting, muscle pain, lack of appetite, severe headache

Later signs and symptoms of illnesses that can be contracted from tick bites include:
rash, abdominal pain, joint pain, diarrhea

Certainly, you will always want to look for localized skin reactions from a known tick bite including redness surrounding the bite, red streaks going away from the bite, a "bulls-eye" appearance with a white center and red circles radiating from the center, and any other discoloration, fluid secretion, or swelling at the site. It is important to immediately contact your local healthcare provider and/or the health department if you suspect your child has any illness that may have been contracted from a tick bite.

Please contact me if you have any other questions or concerns about this issue. You will be informed if other procedures are recommended for us to follow by our WCS Maintenance Department and Department of Health as soon as the information is available.

Chris Schwartz

Principal

Trinity Elementary School