Oklahoma classrooms are about to get a little itchier.
Thanks to the hard work of our lice-loving lawmakers, a bill that would allow students with head lice to stay in school and give it to their friends sailed through a House committee.
Here are the hat-sharing details via KTUL:
A bill that prohibits kids with "contagious diseases" and head lice from attending school faced a full repeal in the House Public Health Committee Wednesday...
The bill's repeal goes hand-in-hand with the passage of HB 3145, which was sponsored by Rep. Kevin West.
HB 3145 changes quarantine rules for "communicable diseases". It says "no person having a communicable disease shall be permitted to attend a private or public school."
Rep. West said "communicable diseases" had a better definition than "contagious diseases", hence why he wanted to repeal HB 3159 and just stick with HB 3145.
I was going to bring up some points about why this seems dumb, but then I realized Oklahoma lawmakers are experts at spreading both communicable and contagious diseases, especially of the sexually transmitted variety, so I figured I should stay in my lane and trust the experts on this one.
That being said, communicable and contagious diseases aside, why are we giving lice a pass? Did the Lice, Scabies and Bed Buggies lobby – L.S.B.B for short – finally get to Oklahoma lawmakers?