SPOKANE, Wash. — School districts in Spokane County are working to make sure students follow a new Washington law that no longer allows personal exemptions for the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.
This means that students in Spokane County who don't comply with the law could be kept home from school this October.
The law, which went into effect in July, requires students to either get vaccinated or claim a religious or medical exemption for the MMR vaccine in order to attend public schools and day cares.
Spokane Public Schools will exclude students on Oct. 11
According to Spokane Public Schools Spokesman Brian Coddington, the district currently has 617 students with MMR vaccine exemptions. Of those, 35 previously listed a personal exemption.
That means 582 students have claimed a medical or religious exemption, which is still legal under Washington law.
Coddington told KREM that the district sent several rounds of reminder calls and letters to parents, and posted a reminder on the district's website.
That reminder says the immunization exclusion date is Oct. 11, 2019. Without proof of immunization compliance, students will not be able to return to class on Monday, Oct. 14.
During the 2018-19 school year, 3.7% of exempted Washington students, or 41,871 kids, claimed a personal exemption, according to data from the Washington State Department of Health.
In Spokane County, that number sat at 6.4%, or 4,405 kids, with a personal exemption for the 2018-19 school year. More than 1,200 kids claimed a medical exemption.
More than 8% of Spokane County students were listed as exempt during the 2018-19 school year, according to Department of Health data.
80 Mead students could be sent home this fall
The Mead School District sent a letter to families in June, warning them that students who don't comply with the new law could be sent home in October.
“Because MMR vaccine doses must be administered at least a month apart, your child may be entered into school if they have paperwork showing at least one dose of MMR vaccine by the beginning of the school year. This will place your child under conditional status for up to 30 days, at which point you will need to provide records showing your child received the second dose of vaccine,” the letter reads.
Mead spokesperson Jolene Andres said the district also called families with invalid personal exemptions in June and again in August.
Approximately 80 students within the district still do not have required MMR exemptions or immunizations, Andres said.
“Our nurses are actively working with their families to come into compliance. The district will exclude in October after their 30 day conditional status is over,” Andres wrote in a statement to KREM.
Central Valley does not yet have data
KREM also reached out to Central Valley School District, whose spokesperson Marla Nunberg said the district is following procedures guided by the Department of Health. Nunberg said she does not yet have data on MMR vaccination compliance, as school just started.
Eastern Washington University Health, Wellness and Prevention Services tweeted on Monday that all students are required to show proof of MMR immunity or they will be unable to register for winter classes.
The new law is rooted in the concept of “herd immunity,” which limits the spread of disease when a high percentage of people are vaccinated, indirectly protecting people that can’t be vaccinated for medical reasons. Supporters of the law hope that increasing the number of children who are vaccinated for measles, mumps, and rubella will help limit the spread of that disease.
Washington has had two outbreaks of measles in 2019 with a total of 86 cases, according to the Department of Health. The majority of those cases were in Clark County, but the more recent outbreak included 12 cases in King County, two in Pierce County, and one in Snohomish County.
KREM'S Amanda Roley and KING 5's Allison Sundell contributed to this report.