As a result of the county’s measles outbreak, Evergreen, Vancouver and Battle Ground public schools temporarily excluded 754 students for not completing their MMR vaccinations.

The 754 excluded students were among 7,567 attending 10 Evergreen, Vancouver and Battle Ground public schools. There are 14 public schools, private schools and day care centers identified as measles exposure locations by Clark County Public Health.

Evergreen Public Schools reported 218 exclusions from four schools and Vancouver reported 138 exclusions from three sites where children were exposed to measles. Battle Ground excluded 74 students from Tukes Valley Primary and Middle School, 81 from Maple Grove School (K-8) and 243 from River HomeLink, the school system’s home school program, in which students can have on-campus hours.

During a school exclusion, children can do their assignments at home, but cannot attend classes or on-campus events.

“The challenge for us when something like an outbreak happens, where we have to exclude students, is that we want our students in school,” said Battle Ground spokesperson Rita Sanders. “Research has shown that one of the important things about succeeding is that students be in school. When we have to exclude students, that’s really hard.”