California takes hard line with unvaccinated kids

No vaccination, no school. At least that's what several California students are being told. Middle and high school students, are being turned away from admission because they have not received a required whooping cough vaccination.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - A historic outbreak of whooping cough prompted the California state legislature to pass a law requiring all grades 7 through 12 to be vaccinated by the start of the 2011-2012 school year. Parents filing a form with the state claiming they were opposed to be vaccinations could have their children exempted. 

Nobody will know for sure how many students are being turned away until December when the final tallies are submitted, but districts across the state are reporting a wide range of numbers. Some are saying that all students are vaccinated, down to as few as half. 

A substantial outreach and public education program proceeded this school year.

On Thursday, the San Francisco Unified School District notified the public that it was sending home students who did not have proper proof of vaccination. Heidi Anderson, a district spokesperson, said the district estimated that 2,000 students, or about 10 percent of the kids, were still unvaccinated. 

Some districts have extended the deadline, hoping the extra time will encourage parents to comply. Others are being even more proactive. In Sacramento, students who show up without vaccination will be sent to gyms or study hall, and schools will not receive credits for those student's attendance on those days. 

Still, many districts are saying they will admit students regardless. Most educators are reluctant to keep kids out of school, which is also required by law. This is creating a dilemma for school officials across the state. How do they get children vaccinated and comply with the law, yet turn them away without breaking the law. 

Vaccinations are serious politics, particularly following the recent presidential scrap between presidential hopefuls Michelle Bachmann and Rick Perry. Although the crux of the dispute is individual rights, as Perry signed an executive order mandating vaccinations in Texas, the issue for many people is that they do not trust the government or vaccines. 

In any case, whooping cough is a serious and deadly disease and California school kids have been exposed. The Folsom-Cordova Unified School District reported 70 cases of whooping cough last year. 

Nathan Fletcher, the San Diego Republican Assemblyman and co-author of the law, said students who haven't been vaccinated shouldn't attend school. 

"This is not an academic or philosophical discussion. Children have died as a result of this. We took very seriously our obligation to protect children so I think school districts need to take seriously the obligations to comply with it," he said. 

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Whooping cough is a serious illness caused by a bacteria. Infection is characterized by violent, uncontrollable coughing which makes breathing very difficult. The disease can be deadly in some cases and regularly claims the lives of infants and children.

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