Amid a measles outbreak last month, data shows that Sarasota County has the lowest percentage of vaccinated Kindergartners in the state.

Nearly a month after four Sarasota County children were diagnosed with measles, data shows that the community had the lowest percentage of vaccinated kindergartners in Florida last year, according to numbers compiled by the state Department of Health.

Only 90 percent of Sarasota County’s almost 3,200 kindergarten students in its public and private schools were vaccinated last year, according to the data. About 230 — or 7.2 percent — of those students reported a religious exemption to the county, effectively sanctioning their child to be unvaccinated.

Every other school district in Florida had a higher percentage of kindergartners vaccinated last year than in Sarasota County. About 93.7 percent of kindergartners in Florida were vaccinated last year. In neighboring Manatee County, about 93.2 percent of those students were immunized.

Officials recommend 95 percent of the population be vaccinated for total immunity.

The program manager of Sarasota County’s Disease Intervention Services, Michael Drennon, acknowledged that Sarasota’s 90 percent rate was lower than the ideal.

“I think that the real question that we can answer is: does that pose a problem and a risk for our students? And it does,” Drennon said. “As you go below 95 percent, the likelihood that they can have an exposure to another person who is not immunized increases, and thus you have a greater possibility for spread of the disease.”

Parents or guardians are required to have their children immunized based on state requirements if their child attends public or private schools. But there are three reasons why students are allowed to be unvaccinated: a temporary or permanent medical exemption or a religious exemption. Parents or guardians who seek a religious exemption must apply through their county health departments.

"This form must be issued upon request," reads an immunization guide from the Florida Department of Health. "No other information should be solicited from the parent or guardian."

The guide also stipulates that exemptions for "personal or philosophical reasons" are not allowed under Florida law.

But in Sarasota County, Drennon said definitively that applicants are “not denied.”

“I don’t believe we’ve ever denied anyone a religious exemption,” he said.

Still, although Sarasota County had the lowest percentage of kindergartners vaccinated last year, five other districts had a lower percentage of immunized seventh-graders, the other age at which the Florida Department of Health compiles vaccination data.

As of November 2017, about 94.6 percent of Sarasota County’s 3,600 seventh-graders were vaccinated. About 4.6 of those students had a religious exemption. The county with the lowest amount of vaccinated seventh-graders, Orange County, had 93.6 percent immunized and 1.3 percent with a religious exemption, but 4 percent with a temporary medical exemption.

About 96.2 percent of Florida’s seventh-graders were vaccinated last year, according to state data.

The four children who were diagnosed with measles in early December in Sarasota County were determined to be unvaccinated. All four were home-schooled and had close contact to each other, according to the Florida Department of Health.

Students who are home-schooled are not legally required to get vaccinations.