Schools to parents: Don't forget vaccine rules in back-to-school rush

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - The rush to get ready for the start of school is under way. But in addition to all the books, paper, pens and other student essentials, there’s one thing that’s not negotiable: immunizations. If your child doesn’t have the immunizations required by state law, he or she can’t attend class after the deadline.

The push to get students immunized should be at a fever pitch right now, but too many parents forget about the rules.

"They really have not been taking it seriously," said Lisa Lowery, immunization program manager of Visiting Nurse Service at St. Francis, which offers immunization clinics.

Lowery said shots aren't the priority they should be.

"The parents forget about it, don't make a doctor's appointment, don't get in, don't find out if they need them or not,” she said. “And the schools just go crazy trying to get everybody ready."

According to state law, every incoming kindergartner and first-grader student should be immunized for hepatitis B, DTaP (diptheria, tetanus and pertussis). polio, MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) and chicken pox. Incoming sixth-graders should have all those immunizations again, as well as a meningitis immunization. If the student has had chicken pox, a second immunization for that illness is not required.

Indianapolis Public Schools’ top health official said there is a grace period during which kids can attend school without the immunizations, but there is a deadline past which they will be sent home.

"We will allow the children to enroll and to attend school, but the parents need to get their immunization records to us in the next few weeks," said Rae Wallis, head of nursing and health services for IPS. Sometime in September, though, students without the immunizations will be notified they can't continue to come to school without them, she said.

"We sent letters home last spring, two different letters reminding them that they had to get their shots if they didn't have them, so parents have been warned," Wallis said.

This year’s requirements are exactly the same as last year’s, so there should be fewer students who haven't been immunized, she said.

An immunization clinic is set from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday at Carmel High School’s freshman center. The price is a flat $14.47 per person for one or all shots, and the clinic is open to all. Services are being provided by the Visiting Nurses Service at St. Francis.

County health departments also offer immunizations. Immunizations are provided free for now, but that policy is changing as of January.