Daniela Berson
WMAL.com
ROCKVILLE, MD — (WMAL) Montgomery County School officials say that 7,000 middle school students haven’t received the required vaccinations for the coming school year.
If they aren’t vaccinated, MCPS won’t allow them to attend school.
Students entering seventh and eighth grade must produce proof of their up-to-date Tetanus and Meningitis vaccinations by the first day of school, according to a state mandate.
MCPS Spokesman Dana Tofig said that people aren’t reporting vaccinations for two main reasons.
“Right now we have a lot of students who either have not had the vaccinations or they haven’t handed in the documentation,” Tofig said. “So we are urging them to do so.”
Tofig said that the school system has a similar problem last year but that it was mostly resolved by the time schools opened.
“I can’t stress it enough,” he said.
“The state wants us to follow the law and we’re going to follow the law, but we want to work with families and make sure that they have opportunities to get the vaccinations they need.”
MCPS will provide an opportunity to vaccinate incoming middle schoolers at the “Back to School Fair” this Saturday in Rockville.
The Maryland Department of Health and Human Services is hosting the vaccination clinic at MCPS headquarters.
Copyright 2015 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (Photo: U.S. Air Force)
