WASHINGTON — Hundreds of children now are barred from Prince George’s County classrooms for failing to receive required vaccinations.
The parents of 155 kindergarten and 259 seventh-grade students received letters from the school system indicating they would not be allowed to attend school as of Nov. 5 because of non-compliance.
It’s unclear how many of those 414 students may have been inoculated as of Wednesday, and how many may have brought appropriate documentation with them to school.
Students will be allowed back in class if they provide either proof of immunization, a signed form requesting exemption based on religious grounds, or a signed note from a health care provider indicating the student has a health condition that could be adversely affected by the vaccinations.
“Prince George’s County Public Schools staff has made extraordinary efforts to reach every single student in need of immunizations,” spokesman Max Pugh says in an emailed statement.
The county health department has held numbers of free immunization clinics countywide and at area schools.
Pugh also says 99 percent of students in the Prince George’s County School system do have required immunizations. If students who received exclusion letters show up at school a parent or guardian will be called to pick them up.
Part of the compliance challenge is that parents are having to fulfill new requirements. Maryland’s Department of Health & Mental Hygiene broadened vaccination requirements for the 2014-15 school year for kindergarten and seventh-grade students.
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