“It’s not our law, but we’re just doing what’s best for kids in the building,” said Isaac Seevers, superintendent of Greeneview Local School District.
At Greeneview schools, kindergartners, seventh graders and seniors need to have their paperwork.
For kindergarten, students need vaccines for DTaP or diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis; polio; MMR or measles, mumps and rubella; Hepatitis B; and varicella or chicken pox.
In seventh grade, the state requires another DTaP vaccine and the first round of shots to prevent meningitis.
Prior to their senior year but after their 16th birthday, students need their second dose of the meningitis vaccination.
“The big ones for us [are] seventh and 12th grade because they kind of forget those are coming up,” Seevers said.
When it comes to vaccinations, school districts have policies. Students without vaccines can get kicked out of class.
Seevers said the district starts notifying students about 14 days after the school year starts if they haven’t turned in their paperwork.
However, there is an exception.
Parents and guardians can have a religious, medical or other state-accepted reason for not vaccinating their child.
In that case, a parents or guardian must fill out a form documenting the information each year for the school district.
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