By MATT PIKE
The St. Joseph School District wants to keep students healthy as school starts in just over a month and enrollment is underway throughout the district.
In the state of Missouri, immunizations are required for school attendance as students going into kindergarten, eighth grade, and 12th grade must be fully up to date on their vaccinations to be able to attend school.
District Coordinator of Health Services Tammy Smith-Hinchey says it's important to make sure students have the correct vaccinations before the start of school.
"Otherwise, the law says we have to send them back out to get those immunizations on the first day," Smith-Hinchey says on the KFEQmunnity show. "And the reason for this is that it's an infection control prevention strategy, when children don't have the required immunizations, it can cause a domino effect of disease outbreak."
Smith-Hinchey says its important to make an appointment with your primary care doctor or the St. Joseph Health Department prior to the start of school to have those done, so your student can be in class the first day of school.
If you're unsure what vaccinations need to be up to date, you can find that information on the St. Joseph School District website, or by contacting the St. Joseph Health Department or your doctor.
Smith Hinchey says parents can also contact her at the district offices. She emphasizes that the best time to get these vaccinations is during the summer.
"So that you're ready to go on the first day of school, and so the Health Department isn't overwhelmed with 400 kids coming to get updated vaccinations," Smith-Hinchey explains. "The importance of having immunizations in school is because we have all kids in school, we have kids with compromised medical immune systems and they really need our care, and so when all of us have our immunizations it provides herd immunity and we keep our neighbors safe as well."
The nurses in the St. Joseph School District will also be back in the offices starting August 17th to answer any questions regarding immunizations.
Interview
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