The school’s vaccination policy stands to protect its students from illness in its many strains, and its adamant guidelines continue to do so.
The current vaccination requirement form is issued to every incoming student and their family, as well as returning students. The form must be updated to keep up with each grade’s required immunizations, and parents must submit forms and dates showing when the student will be immunized. For school nurse Julie Doerge, the plan serves as a safety net for everyone on campus.
“We’ve had the policy in place for 12 years,” Doerge said. “We accept only medical exemptions, so if you have an allergy to a vaccine, then you can get a medical exemption from a specific specialist that allows you not to have it. But otherwise, we require everyone to be up to date on all their vaccines.”
Along with this policy, the school does not accept Reasons of Conscience as an acceptable field for lacking any vaccine, meaning that a child whose parents have chosen to not vaccinate him for any reason other than a doctor’s orders cannot attend the school, unless they were to receive the required vaccines.
“We do not accept Reasons of Conscience.” Doerge said. “If you want to go to a public school, most public schools accept those certificates, we just do not.”
As for being up to date, it depends on a student’s grade and age, with incoming first graders and seniors having separate requirements. The amount of necessary vaccinations also varies.
“Before kids go into kindergarten, you need to have certain vaccines by the time you’re five,” Doerge said. “Then you have updates again in third and then again in seventh and then what happens in high school (is getting the meningitis vaccine). You get one of those along the way and another when you’re 17 to 18 before you go off to college.”
Doerge highlighted the importance of getting the meningitis vaccine as a senior. Due to its affinity for occurring in dorm environments, it carries a high level of contagiousness and potential to be debilitating. She also emphasized that getting the DTaP (Diphtheria/Tetanus/Pertussis) vaccination is important to keep up through regular life.
The vaccine policy exists to keep all on campus safe and healthy, and its continued application has been one of the root causes for Marksmen’s health.
