Parents should check with physicians to make sure their student has all required vaccinations before the first day of school. Seniors will not be permitted to attend classes if they have not received the MCV vaccine.
A new Pennsylvania law could keep some seniors from attending their final year of high school next year.
Armstrong School District Solicitor Lee Price said that the new law requires students to receive 1 dose of the meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV) by the first day of entering the 12th grade.
“The state has rewritten some of their regulations regarding vaccinations for kids attending school. I think what some parents may not be up on is that one of those vaccinations have to do with meningitis, for 12th graders. So the district will be sending things out to the parents of students informing them of it. Hopefully, their doctors or pediatricians have already started suggesting that they get theses vaccines done.”
ASD/Lenape Tech Solicitor Lee Price explained the importance of parents making sure their child is immunized before the start of the 2017-2018 school year.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, if one dose of the vaccine was given at age 16 years of age or older, that shall count as the twelfth grade dose.
The old law also gave an 8-month grace period for parents to have their child vaccinated. Meanwhile, the student could continue to attend classes. Under the new law, the grace period has been removed and schools can bar students at any level for failing to be vaccinated prior to the new school year.
Vaccines and dosages required are: DTaP (4) kindergarten, Polio (4) kindergarten, HepB (3) kindergarten, MMR (2) kindergarten, Varicella (2) kindergarten, Tdap (1) 7th grade, and MCV (2) 7th-12th grades.
School administrators are required to review medical records every 30 days to ensure that the child is in compliance.
Waivers may be granted from the immunization requirements for medical, religious belief, or strong moral, ethical, or philosophical conviction.
The new law goes into effect on August 1, 2017.
“You’re used to a new person coming into school in kindergarten. They have to show vaccinations. Well, now, 12th graders, depending upon their age, will have to show a vaccination for meningitis,” Price said. “Like anything else, you’ve got to show proof/certification that your child has been vaccinated.”
Price represents both Armstrong School District and Lenape Tech.
The Commonwealth implemented the requirement based on recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which is an advisory group of the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).