Yreka, Calif. — A new school year is just getting started for students in California, but hundreds of them could be sent home before attending their first clas..
It’s the result of a new vaccination law that requires parents show proof of their child’s immunizations before sending them to school.
The California state law says parents can no longer use religious or personal beliefs as a reason not to have their child immunized.
This year kindergartners and seventh graders had to provide proof of immunizations or they weren’t allowed to start the new year with their friends.
Yreka Union School District Superintendent Dave Parsons said the changes impacted their seventh grade class, but all kindergartners were up to date.
“We have 100 seventh graders enrolled and at this time we have nine students that we are in contact with to have parents update those immunizations so we can get them enrolled and back in school,” he said.
Parsons said if a child coming into kindergarten is in the middle of an immunization dosage they can make an exception, but in most cases their hands are tied.
“There’s nothing we can do, they have to have it,” Parsons said.
Parsons said kids who had their religious or personal exemptions approved before January are an exception, but they’ll need to be immunized by the time they reach the seventh grade.
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