More than 300 intermediate and high school students with Ottawa's French-language public board are due to be suspended Wednesday for failing to provide up-to-date immunization records.

Parents received "final notice of suspension" notices two weeks ago advising them they had until Jan. 30 to submit the missing information, or their children would be suspended and forbidden from returning to class for up to 20 days.

"The reason we do this is to protect themselves and protect the school environment from getting serious complications from these childhood diseases," said Lorette Dupuis, program manager of immunizations at Ottawa Public Health (OPH).

In the separate French Catholic board, 557 students have been given until Monday to update their records or they, too, will be suspended.

Earlier this month, 535 elementary students from the two French language boards faced suspension for failing to provide proof of immunization. Only 20 of those students remain suspended.

More notices Wednesday

After finishing with the French boards, OPH will turn its attention to Ottawa's English-language school boards.

The next batch of "final notice of suspension" letters will be issued Wednesday to elementary students with the Ottawa Catholic School Board.

As of Tuesday, there were as many as 3,000 students with the English Catholic board facing suspension on Feb. 6, according to OPH.

Suspension letters for students with the city's largest board, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, will be issued in February, and letters for those attending private schools will be issued in late February, OPH said.

OPH encourages parents who have received a notice about updating their child's immunization record to contact the agency.