DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
P.O.
SUPTS. MEMO NO. 161
July 18, 2008
INFORMATIONAL
|
TO: |
Division
Superintendents |
|
FROM: |
Billy K.
Cannaday, Jr. Superintendent
of Public Instruction |
|
SUBJECT: |
Physical
Examination and Immunization Requirements for School Enrollment |
Physical examination and immunization requirements
for school enrollment remain unchanged for the 2008-2009 school year. Pursuant
to the Code of Virginia at
22.1-270, students shall not be permitted to attend school without
documentation of a comprehensive physical exam performed within the 12 months
prior to the date the student enters public kindergarten or elementary school.
The Code does not extend a grace period for complying with this regulation. Two
exceptions exist to this requirement: homeless students and those whose parents
object due to religious belief. Homeless students are to be enrolled and
immediately referred to the local school division homeless liaison for
assistance in complying with entrance requirements. Parents objecting to a
physical exam based upon religious belief must provide the school division with
a written statement that the child is in good health and free from communicable
or contagious disease.
Certain
prescribed immunizations are required for a child to enroll or attend public
school in Virginia as outlined in School
& Day Care Minimum Immunization Requirements, Virginia Department of
Health http://www.vdh.virginia.gov/epidemiology/immunization/requirements.htm.
Parents are responsible for providing documentation that all required
immunizations are up-to-date, completed, or a medical or religious exemption
has been obtained. These include the required doses of DTaP (diphtheria,
tetanus, pertussis), polio, hepatitis B, MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) and
varicella.
A
child whose immunizations are incomplete may be admitted conditionally,
provided the parent or guardian has documentation at the time of enrollment
indicating that the child has received at least one dose of the required
immunizations and has a written schedule for completing the remaining doses
within 90 calendar days of the opening of school. The 90-day grace period does
not apply to the Tdap booster as outlined below (Code of Virginia 22.1-271.2B.)
Since
the start of the 2006-2007 school year, a booster dose of pertussis-containing
vaccine (Tdap) has been required for students entering the sixth grade unless
the student has had a tetanus-containing vaccine within the last five years or
has a medical or religious exemption. There
is no grace period for compliance with this requirement because Tdap is a
single dose vaccine, not a series.
Should you
have further questions, please contact Tia Campbell, school health specialist,
at 804-786-8671 or Tia.campbell@doe.virginia.gov.
BKCJr/tbc