2,900 Nashville seventh-graders could be sent home over missed shots

Almost 60 percent of Metro Schools seventh-graders aren't up to date on their booster shots, according to numbers gathered Wednesday by district officials.

If those students don't receive immunization shots by Friday, Metro Schools will have to send them home come Monday — at least until parents are able to show a record their child received their shots.

A high number of seventh-graders entering school without updated booster shots is a yearly battle for Metro Nashville Public Schools. This year seems to be worse.

A total of 2,939 of the 4,972 seventh-graders don't have updated records this year. In past years, the number topped 40 percent.

"It is always a challenge," said Joe Bass, district spokesman. "But students have to have updated immunizations."

The state requires prekindergarten, kindergarten and seventh-grade students to show a record of immunization to school officials. For seventh-graders, parents must show proof students got a tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis booster and a second dose of chicken pox vaccine.

The requirement has been in place since 2010.

Metro Schools notifies parents of the need for immunization shots at the end of their child's sixth-grade year. The district also emails, calls and sends snail mail to families as a reminder. At the beginning of the year, the district will send a warning to parents with out-of-date records.

"We still come up short every year," Bass said.

The good news is the final warning usually prompts parents to get their kids the proper immunizations, Bass said.

"The letters sent (home) are always a big driver of parents getting shots," Bass said. "The number without shots gets pretty low pretty quickly."

Which means an influx of parents heading to clinics and pediatricians, said Brian Todd, Metro Public Health Department spokesman. The health department runs three clinics throughout Nashville, and Todd said there have been more parents in the doors.

The clinics provide immunizations free to families without health insurance.

"We will remain busy this week and next," he said.

Todd reminds parents to bring in their children's immunization history; otherwise the child will have to get multiple shots during the visit. Plus, the records go a long way toward speeding up the process, Todd said.

And as for having to send students home on Monday, Bass said the district doesn't enjoy having to do it, but it's required by state law. Missing school because of a lack of immunizations is considered an unexcused absence.

"We prefer for it not to get it to that point," Bass said. "It's a major disruption to the school day."

The surrounding Nashville-area school districts didn't report having the same issues, including Wilson and Williamson counties.

Reach Jason Gonzales at 615-259-8047 and on Twitter @ByJasonGonzales.

A need for immunization shots

Historically, Metro Schools has struggled to get parents to immunize their seventh-graders before the start of the school year. District and the health department officials don’t have an exact reason for why that might be occurring.

Seventh-graders are required to have a tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis booster shot in addition to a second dose of the chickenpox vaccine or proof they've already been treated for the illness.

2010: Immunization requirements go into effect throughout the entire state.

2011: Of the 5,416 seventh-graders, 2,103 are missing immunization records — or about 39 percent.

2012: School officials launch a campaign to make parents aware students need booster shots before school.

2013: About 18 percent of seventh-grade students don’t have the required vaccinations by the second week of school.

2014: According to district numbers, more than 50 percent show up to school in the first week without immunizations. The number is able to be cut to 24 percent of seventh-grade students without the required vaccinations by the second week.

2015: Metro Schools almost hits 60 percent of all seventh-grade students not having the necessary booster shots.

Looking for a booster?

Parents can take their kids to community health services or personal pediatricians to acquire their immunizations. They also can take their kids to one of the Metro Public Health Department clinics, or any of the area clinics, to receive booster shots.

• Lentz Public Health Center, 2500 Charlotte Ave., 615-340-5616

• East Public Health Center, 1015 E. Trinity Lane, 615-862-7916

• Woodbine Public Health Center, 224 Oriel Ave., 615-862-7940