CHICO — Public and charter schools in Butte County are showing a drop in vaccinated students below recommended rates, public data shows.

The trend seems to align with current data for other charter schools statewide. California’s charter schools are noticeably lagging behind public schools in vaccination rates, according to the California Department of Public Health — even though the state has some of the strictest vaccination laws in the country.

A rate of 95% or higher in immunized students must be maintained to prevent the transmission of diseases within a community, according to the state Department of Public Health.

Current state law for public school students requires all students to be vaccinated against 10 major communicable diseases. A medical exemption, the condition of homelessness or a conditional enrollment are required for students who are not yet vaccinated to attend school. Even under these conditions, a student must be vaccinated as quickly as possible once attending campus (and conditional enrollments have decreased from 6.9% to 1.7% since 2014).

After Senate Bill 277 in 2016 tightened laws around personal belief exemptions, enrollment in charter and private schools, where such restrictions are not enforced, slightly spiked.

In fact, the rates of students seeking exemptions and avoiding immunizations slightly increased after 2016, according to the Department of Public Health.

In comparison to the 2017-2018 school year, in 2018-2019 there was an increase from 0.7% to 0.9% in permanent medical exemptions among kindergartners. Children lacking immunizations for other reasons under SB777 also increased from 1.1% to 1.5%. However, overdue rates for required immunizations slightly decreased from 1.2% to 1.1%.

Parental options in Butte County

Decreasing vaccination rates are of special note in Butte County, which had California’s highest measles rate this year.

While most charter schools in Chico are falling below the acceptable rate of 95% total immunized students, CORE Butte happens to have the lowest rate of vaccinated kindergarten students, at just 39%.

At CORE Butte, because of the lack of restriction by state law, many parents often wait on vaccinating, which could explain why the rate among kindergartners is 39%, executive director Mary Cox said. The 2018 vaccination rate for seventh-graders was only slightly higher at 40%.

It’s a sensitive subject for administrators, one that schools like CORE Butte technically have no say in, because of their status as a public charter school. Many students in grades K-8 are home schooled and are not supposed to attend campus.

It makes sense that some parents would choose charter schools if they intend to “stagger” the vaccines of their children, and to enroll them in charter schools while updating one or more vaccines, Cox said.

This can lead to the loophole, however, that parents who do not intend to vaccinate will opt for their children to stay in charter schools to avoid vaccinations altogether.

More children opting out

Enrollment in charter and private schools does not necessarily mean that there are lower rates of immunization, as evidenced by charter schools in Chico with high vaccination.

However, the more children enrolled in a community’s charter schools, the more likely it is that the number of non-vaccinated children in a community will rise. This is an issue of concern after the most recent measles outbreak in Butte County.

While public charter and private schools are not required by law to prevent non-vaccinated students from enrolling, it’s important for parents to be aware that the following schools were not up to the 95% rate of immunization for kindergartners in the 2018-2019 school year, according to the Department of Public Health website shotsforschools.org data. Several of these schools are public schools.

Butte and Glenn county schools under 95%

Wildflower Open Classroom: 75%

CORE Butte Charter: 39%

Loma Vista School: 86%

Hooker Oak Elementary: 92%

Sherwood Montessori: 87%

Chapman Elementary: 92%

Notre Dame School: 83%

Bird Street Elementary (now closed): 91%

Biggs Elementary: 91%

Manzanita Elementary: 92%

Durham Elementary: 91%

Hamilton Elementary: 81%

Nord Country: 88%

Children’s Community Charter: 91%

Ponderosa Elementary: 94%

The current requirements for immunization of children from the California Department of Education are available on the department’s website.