School District to Send Out Vaccination Warnings

“Important notice:  Students who have not provided proof of the required immunizations by May 1, 2012 will be excluded from school.”

Within the coming days, parents or guardians of approximately 600 students throughout the may expect to get this attention-grabbing warning in the mail.

The warning is due to the reported non-compliance of the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s new immunization requirements, which was a topic of discussion at last night’s school board Programs and Services Committee.

“This isn’t something unique to Upper Moreland,” Dr. Sue Bell, the district’s director of student services, told the committee.

She said, at this time, students in several other school districts have also not complied with the state’s new immunization requirements.

Initial immunization letters went out to parents and guardians at the beginning of the school year, and again in November, Bell said.

An explanation of the school immunization requirements was found in the committee’s agenda that evening. It states that the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s 2011 - 2012 immunization regulations now require:

• 2 doses of varicella (Chicken Pox), instead of the previous 1 dose for all students

• 1 dose of tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis  

• 1 dose of meningococcal conjugate vaccine for seventh graders

The explanation goes on to say that students without documentation of the needed vaccinations should be excluded from school until the updated vaccination is provided to the school nurse. Furthermore, the state has suggested May 1 as the deadline for the proof of vaccination.

“Hopefully, we won’t have to use that deadline,” Bell said after the committee meeting. “Every day the number is decreasing.”

Free Immunization Clinic

According to Bell, the school district nurses have continually worked in trying to reach the parents and guardians about their children’s immunization requirements. However, the letter, via U.S. Post, was sent out today, informing the students of their non-compliance, as well as offering them the opportunity to rectify their situation for free, courtesy of the department of health.

On April 23, the department of health will hold a free immunization clinic for students of the district. The clinic will take place at the lower schools in the morning and at the high school in the afternoon.

Within the letter, parents and guardians will be informed that their child’s permission slip to attend this clinic is due April 13.

Truancy Laws may Apply

The committee discussed students risking academic performance, should the school district bar them from entering the buildings, due to their non-compliance to state-regulations.

“I would just hate to see a bunch of kids fail if they miss the last weeks of school,” school board member Duval Dougherty said.

Dougherty pointed out that the regulations also state that it is up to the individual school districts to enforce excluding students from its school buildings, which suggests that no strict penalty from the department of health would be carried out, should a school district not proceed with the enforcement.

However, several other school board members were concerned that extending the deadline date, to even the following school year, would create an unnecessary reason for further procrastination.

“I think the ones that let it slide, will continue to let it slide,” school board member April Stainback said.

Adding to the comments, district superintendent Dr. Robert Milrod said that it would be easier to get compliance in May than in September. He also said, should the school district bar students from their schools, absence laws would apply to parents and guardians.

“If you are absent because of this, absence laws apply,” Milrod said. “And, we will go after you for truancy.”

A parent, speaking from the audience, also voiced her concerns.

“The parents need to be accountable,” she said. “What is more important than your child’s health?”

After discussion on whether or not to extend the state’s suggested deadline date, the committee agreed that May 1 would be the deadline for immunization complacency, allowing students to still comply a week after the April 23 free clinic.

According to the committee proceedings, students with exemptions to the vaccinations or that have already complied should be accounted for, but may need to confirm with the school district. Further announcements of the immunization requirements may also appear in the district's 'Virtual Backpack.'

---

For more information, visit the Upper Moreland School district website (www.umtsd.org) or its nurses link.

---