7 August 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Many students in Kansas are getting ready for back to school, and one requirement is up-to-date vaccine records.
More than 47,000 students attend Wichita Public Schools.
The district started vaccination reminders in May for the upcoming school year and will continue reminding parents into the first few months of school.
“This is the time to do it if you can,” said Sedgwick County Health Department Preventative Health Associate Director Beverly Bruce.
Sedgwick County Health Department and Wichita Public Schools work together each year to provide multiple vaccine clinics.
The health department said it saw a dip in vaccines in 2020 and 2021 due to homeschooling and virtual classes. The department saw the number go back up last year and expects the same for this year.
“We are seeing a lot more students this summer than we did see in the spring or fall,” said Bruce. She added, “We also saw a lot more children excluded from school last year because they weren’t up to date.”
Wichita Public Schools said it held three vaccine clinics in July, with 501 administered to 151 students.
Currently, there are about 694 religious and 78 medical exemptions in the district.
“We really have a pretty low number of students with religious or medical exemptions in our district compared to some other areas in the state of Kansas,” said Wichita Public Schools Health Service Director Kimber Kasitz.
Exemptions did fluctuate slightly when the COVID-19 vaccine came out, according to Kasitz. The COVID-19 vaccine is not a required back-to-school immunization.
If parents do not submit records or exemptions for USD 259 by October 11th, their student could be excluded from class.
“We are following Kansas law. We can do that as a district if we choose to do so, but we like to give families time to get that done,” said Kasitz.
Sedgwick County Health Department recommends you get your vaccines now for back to school.
“Some parents wait, and in October, when USD 259 does their immunization exclusion, a lot of kids are out of school, and they try to call us for appointments, and it gets very, very busy here, and we typically have a several weeks wait for appointments at that time,” said Bruce.
Experts said students can get their vaccines from a local health clinic, pediatrician, local health department, or one of the WPS vaccine clinics.
“It’s for the health of all. It is not that we are picking on a student or a family. We want to just make sure that we are providing the most healthy environment that we can,” said Kasitz.
For a list of required Wichita Public Schools vaccines click here.
For more information on Kansas vaccine requirements, click here.