A Hamilton Southeastern School Board committee is recommending the full board adopt a rewritten student immunization policy meant to clear up confusion over how the district handles students who start school without vaccination records.
HSE Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Schools, Jason Urban, told the board’s policy committee that the “root cause” of the confusion was a misunderstanding of the district’s long-standing practice.
Indiana law requires parents to provide proof of their child’s immunizations by the first day of school. The law also lets the superintendent grant a 20-day waiver. Urban said that for as long as he can remember, HSE has granted that waiver to every student automatically on the first day. Those students keep attending while families get their records in.
The current policy, adopted in 1997 and last revised in 2006, says a student without proof of immunization cannot attend unless the superintendent “determines that the student qualifies” for a waiver. Urban said that wording suggests a review process that does not actually happen.
The policy first came to the board for action Sept. 9. Board member Suzanne Thomas suggested clarifying language, and the district’s attorney offered his own revision. Urban said both versions either did not match practice or made the policy harder to read, so he rewrote it himself.
The new version says students may be admitted without proof of immunization if documentation arrives within 20 days. After that, the superintendent or a designee must begin exclusion proceedings unless the family has filed a valid religious objection or a physician’s statement supporting a medical exemption. The committee agreed to specify “20 school days” in the language.
Urban and Amy Hanna, HSE Director of Health Services, also presented new written administrative procedures. Under them, students without records or a valid exemption are excluded starting on the 21st school day and may not attend classes or school activities until they comply. Students who enroll mid-year get 20 school days from their enrollment date.
Hanna said exemptions must be renewed every year. She said nurses check CHIRP, the state immunization registry, where providers, including pharmacies, must enter vaccinations within seven days.
She described months of outreach before each deadline. That includes spring newsletter notices, a summer message to families of sixth and 12th graders, and vaccine clinics. This year, clinics were held at all four intermediate schools during preview nights. Nurses also send targeted ParentSquare messages to families who are still missing records.
This year’s deadline was Sept. 2, which was also a walk-in clinic day at the Fishers Health Department, and Hanna said that clinic saw more appointments that day.
Board member Suzanne Thomas, although not a member of the Policy Committee. asked what happens to a student whose parent insists the paperwork was already turned in. Hanna said the district needs proof, but a parent can simply photograph the vaccination record and email it to the school. Urban said a nurse cannot let a student attend without documentation without violating state law.
The rewritten policy now goes to the full school board October 14 for consideration.
