New CA Tdap sticker required?

[Daisy]

Has anyone yet called their county health department to order this new Tdap sticker for the immunization blue form?

 

HSLDA sent out this email...I keep cumulative files for my kids but didn't realize I was legally bound to jump through all these hoops? Does anyone know anything more about it?

 

New Immunization Documentation Requirement—our Action Needed!

 

A booster shot for whooping cough has been added to required school immunization records.

From: Roy Hanson’s Private & Home Educators of California and HSLDA

 

Some changes in the law go into effect this July 1, 2011 that all homeschooling parents and PSP directors will need to act on. These changes are:

 

(1) An additional Tdap immunization booster shot against whooping cough has been added to the list of immunizations required, unless exempted, for all students in 7th through 12th grades (including those who are being homeschooled under the private school option.)

 

(2) There has been a change in documentation required for a student’s records kept by their school of enrollment if a student receives this immunization.

 

(3) There is a change in documentation required for a student’s records if the student does not receive this immunization, either because the parents choose to have their child exempted with the Personal Beliefs Exemption, or if the student has received a medical exemption letter from a physician.

 

AB 354 was signed into law in September 2010. It requires that all students be vaccinated against whooping cough with the Tdap booster on or after their 7th birthday as a condition for being admitted or advanced to the 7th through the 12th grade beginning this July 1, 2011. All references to the term “student†in this article refer only to students being admitted or advanced to the 7th through the 12th grade.

 

Records Required

Every public and private school in California, including those based in the home, continues to be required to maintain an up-to-date copy of a California School Immunization Record (form PM 286B—aka “Blue Cardâ€) as a part of each student’s permanent school record (i.e., cumulative file—see Sections 49062 & 49068 of the Education Code). The PM 286B form is available from your local county health department or you can download it for printing.

 

To implement AB 354, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has created two new forms, which are to be used to document either that the student has been immunized against whooping cough with a Tdap booster (i.e., tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis) or that the student is exempted from this required Tdap immunization. There are two possible exemptions from this new requirement: (1) the parent has completed a “Personal Beliefs Exemption†form CDPH 8261 (1/11) for the student, or (2) a medical exemption letter for the student has been received and is signed by a physician.

 

Beginning with the upcoming 2011–2012 school year, which technically starts on July 1, 2011 for public schools, every student must have received the Tdap booster and have that immunization documented in their school’s student records (as described below). Additionally, proof of immunization provided by the physician’s or health clinic’s immunization record must be kept on file in the student’s permanent school record (cumulative file), unless exempted. If a student has not received the Tdap immunization, that student must have either the personal beliefs exemption or the medical exemption documented and on file in their school’s student records, as described below. The exemption forms and documentation are not to be mailed or delivered by the school administrator to any entity but are to be filed in the student’s records kept by the school of enrollment.

 

For subsequent school years, every student who is being advanced into the 7th grade is subject to the same requirements described above. Students who move into California and will be in any grade from the 7th through the 12th grade will also have to conform to these immunization requirements.

 

The current “PM 286B form (1/02)†does not have a space to document the Tdap immunization. In order to document the compliance status of the student to the Tdap booster requirement on the PM 286B, the California Department of Public Health has created a sticker, form PM 286 S, which is to be completed and placed on the upper left corner of the front of the existing PM 286B “Blue Card,†which should already be in the student’s file. The PM 286B form documents compliance with current immunization requirements for all students in public and private schools (in any grades K–12). On the new sticker, you will fill in information, including documenting either the immunization, or the Personal Beliefs Exemption, or the medical exemption. The Department has also created a separate Personal Beliefs Exemption form, CDPH 8261, which has the same function as the “Personal Beliefs Affidavit†on the back of the current PM 286B (“Blue Cardâ€), but is limited to the Tdap immunization. These new forms are necessary because the current PM 286B form does not list the new Tdap booster immunization requirement. See samples of these items online.

 

Every parent with a child entering the 7th to the 12th grade will need to make a decision for his or her child to receive or not to receive this Tdap immunization booster.

 

Informed Decisions

The stickers, form PM 286 S, and the Personal Beliefs Exemption Forms, CDPH 8261 (1/11), if applicable, must be requested from your local county health department. Only school administrators may request these items. The State Department of Public Health will not make these available online or by request. The California Department of Public Health has stated, “Schools should not try to produce their own versions of these forms or use other forms.â€

 

If your private school was established by you and composed of your family members, and you have at least one child who is entering any grade from 7th through the 12th, you will need to call your local county health department to request enough of the stickers (form PM 286 S) for all your children (students) in these grade levels. Additionally, if you do not want your children vaccinated with the Tdap booster, also request copies of the Personal Beliefs Exemption form, CDPH 8261 for each affected child. When you call, call as the administrator of your private school, not as a parent...

 

Your county health department’s phone number will be in the county section of your phone book. Or, you can also find a listing of county health department phone numbers via a link on our website. When calling, tell them you are a private school administrator from (name of your school) and you need forms and stickers for complying with the new Tdap immunization requirements.

 

They should forward you on to the person in their immunization department that handles the stickers and exemption forms. In most cases there will only be one person in each county equipped to send these new sticker forms and Personal Beliefs Exemption forms to you. That person will need to know the name of your school and how many students you have between 7th and 12th grade. You will need enough stickers for every child required to receive the Tdap under this new law. In addition, be sure to specify the number of Personal Beliefs Exemption forms you need. They will not automatically send out the same number of Personal Beliefs Exemption forms as stickers for your “Blue Card.†Directions for completing these forms should be sent to you when they send the forms.

 

Important Note: As of May 2011, the state is out of stickers for the Blue Cards, so you may not be able to obtain them from your county as soon as you request them. The state is scrambling to get more made, which includes a bidding process for the printing and a bureaucratic system to go through in order to finally reach county administrators. Your county’s health department should inform you when you call if they are out of the stickers and hopefully when they might have them in.

 

If the forms are not available from your county’s health department, you as the school administrator will want to keep in touch with your county health department until the forms you need can be sent to you.

 

Once properly completed, the applicable documentation is required to be kept in each student’s permanent school record (cumulative file) as mentioned above. The appropriate forms should be on file for each student in your school by the time your school starts for the 2011–2012 school year. For many homeschoolers, that would be some time around this coming August or September.

 

We recommend that the county health department be your only source for either the Tdap sticker PM 286 S or the Personal Beliefs Exemption form CDPH 8261 (1/11). They are not available online as of May 2011, and we have been told that they do not plan putting them online. You should not try to produce your own version of these forms or use other forms. As mentioned above, the California Department of Public Health has stated, “Schools should not try to produce their own versions of these forms or use other forms.â€... (shorten to fit on this forum)

 

[Ellie]

You only need it if your dc ever go to "regular" school. :-)

 

PSP administrators should be keeping cum files for the students enrolled with them, and that includes the immunization forms. The admins would be responsible for taking care of the stickers and whatnot (it's only that the current record provided by the health department doesn't have this new booster printed on it).

 

If you're filing your own R4, you don't need to worry about it, unless and until you decide that your dc will go to school. Even then, if your dc get that booster, you'll just have to present proof of immunization and the school will fill out the form and add the sticker.

 

IOW, I wouldn't worry about it as far as record-keeping goes. You'll have the discussion with your health provider about your dc receiving the booster, of course; what we're talking about here is how to document it in the children's school records.

 

Clear as mud?

[Gailmegan]

If your private school was established by you and composed of your family members, and you have at least one child who is entering any grade from 7th through the 12th, you will need to call your local county health department to request enough of the stickers (form PM 286 S) for all your children (students) in these grade levels. Additionally, if you do not want your children vaccinated with the Tdap booster, also request copies of the Personal Beliefs Exemption form, CDPH 8261 for each affected child. When you call, call as the administrator of your private school, not as a parent...

 

Sure sounds like CA homeschools need to do this. Do you have to keep school records of other immunizations or is this the first time it's been required? If you were already keeping a school immunization record, it seems you just have to add the Tdap booster to what's already required.

 

In DE all we have to do is register and report attendance each year. I'm glad I live in an easy homeschool state.

[NancyNellen]

In DE all we have to do is register and report attendance each year.

 

That is all we are required to do in CA, as well. It is a very easy state in which to homeschool. I just has this conversation with my ped. last week. As long as my kids are continuing to home school I am not required to have the vaccination for my children. We have never had to keep any kind of vax records at all.

[Daisy]

That is all we are required to do in CA, as well. It is a very easy state in which to homeschool. I just has this conversation with my ped. last week. As long as my kids are continuing to home school I am not required to have the vaccination for my children. We have never had to keep any kind of vax records at all.

 

Yeah, this is where it is confusing. I feel like we are being told two different things.

 

Every CA homeschooler that I know has returned to public school didn't need a cumulative file. As a matter of fact the ps didn't WANT it even if they did have one. They just started their own.

 

My daughter has already had the shot so we are covered in that respect.

[Ellie]

Sure sounds like CA homeschools need to do this. Do you have to keep school records of other immunizations or is this the first time it's been required? If you were already keeping a school immunization record, it seems you just have to add the Tdap booster to what's already required.

 

In DE all we have to do is register and report attendance each year. I'm glad I live in an easy homeschool state.

Since technically hs are private schools, yes, they are supposed to keep a record of their immunizations. But here's the thing: No one checks hsers' records. Ever. No one will ever see that there isn't an extra label on the blue immunization form that schools keep in their students' cum files.

 

The truth is that most hsers who file their own affidavits don't even have that record. It's very difficult to acquire if you're not a larger entity. Having a shot record from your doctor is enough. Furthermore, you can refuse to allow your dc to be immunized; if your dc ever go to school, you just sign the waiver on the back of that form when your dc enroll.

 

When I was a PHP administrator in California for 16 years, I had those forms, and I required all my new enrollees to provide proof of immunization so that I could fill out that form and put it in the dc's cum files, or I'd have them sign the waiver on the back. If they were withdrawing their dc from school, I requested the dc's records from the other school, and that form would be in there. So now, yes, I'd be requesting proof of immunization for that booster and putting the label on the existing form...unless the parents had signed the waiver.

 

HSLDA is covering its bases by informing the parents of the change in the law. In practice, however, it isn't that big a deal. If parents are in the habit of taking their older dc to their docs for check-ups and immunization boosters and whatnot, their dc will receive that booster, and the dc's shot records will be updated. That's really all they need to have in hand.

[Ellie]

That is all we are required to do in CA, as well. It is a very easy state in which to homeschool. I just has this conversation with my ped. last week. As long as my kids are continuing to home school I am not required to have the vaccination for my children. We have never had to keep any kind of vax records at all.

Exactly.

[Ellie]

Yeah, this is where it is confusing. I feel like we are being told two different things.

 

Every CA homeschooler that I know has returned to public school didn't need a cumulative file. As a matter of fact the ps didn't WANT it even if they did have one. They just started their own.

 

My daughter has already had the shot so we are covered in that respect.

But I'll bet the dc had to show their immunization records. :-)

 

IME, those who had some sort of records were given less grief when they enrolled than those who did not--immunization records, for sure, but also standardized test scores (otherwise, schools often want to make the dc repeat a grade level) and/or some sort of progress report. We were asked for those kinds of records when I enrolled my dd in 6th grade. I didn't have them, which is why I recommend that people put together some sort of cum file, even if it's just health and immunization records (including a waiver) and photocopy of birth certificate.

 

Here's the link to the California School Immunization Record that HSLDA is talking about. You can fill it in and print it. The waiver is page 2.

 

The only reason I even care about keeping some sort of records is that there is always a slight chance that the children might end up in school on short notice, as in the case of the homeschooling mother who died and whose dh put the dc in school in the middle of the year; he had nothing, no records of any kind, for the dc, and it was a very difficult transition (it would have been anyway, I know, because of the tragic circumstances, but the enrollment process was much worse because of there being no records).

[missmoe]

I signed the waiver and attached it to our immunization records.

 

As for the cummulative records, I've found it varies school by school. I've had my kids go from homeschooling to public school three different times. Two of the times I was able to place my children where I wanted them without a question. I had made transcripts for them from Kindergarden on. No one asked any ?s. I'm not even sure they realized they came from a homeschooling situation, since I listed the name of our private school on the top of the transcript.

 

The first time though I did have a problem. And I'm sure it was because I was not as prepared. I didn't have the transcripts from the beginning. I wasn't really familair with the public school system and didn't really know how to fight for my student. If I had to do it again, I would know more and do it differently. Poor first child--always the guinea pig!

 

So keep those cummulative records. I was one of those people who thought I would homeschool from birth through graduation for all of my kids, but plans can change. Better to be prepared than not.

[Daisy]

I have very detailed cumulative records. Hubby is a ps teacher and we've always wanted any possible transition to be seamless. I have copies of their immunization records (yellow parent record) and also have the blue form in their cum files (school record). My husband's ps doesn't care about seeing the blue form when your enroll your student. When you enroll, you are expected to show the yellow immunization record. Sometimes being the parent AND the teacher gets confusing. LOL.

 

I really don't want to call the county health dept if I can help it. Mostly because they don't even have the stickers in stock and just want you to keep calling until they do. Hello, pain in the rear end.

 

And according to the email, the online immunization waiver will not work for this new Tdap shot. You must have the physical waiver form. None of that makes a shred of reasonable sense, imo. The online waiver ought to be fine enough for all of it, imo. And jotting down on the blue form the date of the student's Tdap ought also to be good enough without having to get a sticker.

Edited June 17, 2011 by Daisy

[Hen]

. Mostly because they don't even have the stickers in stock and just want you to keep calling until they do. Hello, pain in the rear end.

 

And according to the email, the online immunization waiver will not work for this new Tdap shot. You must have the physical waiver form. None of that makes a shred of reasonable sense, imo. The online waiver ought to be fine enough for all of it, imo. And jotting down on the blue form the date of the student's Tdap ought also to be good enough without having to get a sticker.

I

 

Yes, I'm kind of wondering about the level of angst they are causing, and the word "mandatory" they are throwing around. It seems to be a big deal over nothing, really. We are in a homeschool charter school and I usually just print up the waiver online and sign it, but I had to physically go in an sign a new waiver for this, in front of a witness. :glare: tho, I have a waiver already on file. It seems a bit overdrive, ya know?!

 

my kids will be getting them, but we do things on a different schedule, it's just easier to do the waiver...

[Daisy]

Well, I just called. Now I'm going to have to wait for a call-back next week from the guy in charge of it. I left the school name and address on his voice mail so maybe I'll get lucky and he'll just mail them to me next week. Otherwise I'm going to spend the week answering my home phone as, "So-in-so Academy..."

 

They kinda laughed/guffawed when I told them I only needed 5 (and I beefed that number up so I wouldn't feel so stupid asking for 2). :glare:

[Ellie]

I have very detailed cumulative records. Hubby is a ps teacher and we've always wanted any possible transition to be seamless. I have copies of their immunization records (yellow parent record) and also have the blue form in their cum files (school record). My husband's ps doesn't care about seeing the blue form when your enroll your student. When you enroll, you are expected to show the yellow immunization record. Sometimes being the parent AND the teacher gets confusing. LOL.

 

I really don't want to call the county health dept if I can help it. Mostly because they don't even have the stickers in stock and just want you to keep calling until they do. Hello, pain in the rear end.

 

And according to the email, the online immunization waiver will not work for this new Tdap shot. You must have the physical waiver form. None of that makes a shred of reasonable sense, imo. The online waiver ought to be fine enough for all of it, imo. And jotting down on the blue form the date of the student's Tdap ought also to be good enough without having to get a sticker.

I wouldn't call. And I wouldn't worry about it for a nanosecond.

[Ellie]

Well, I just called. Now I'm going to have to wait for a call-back next week from the guy in charge of it. I left the school name and address on his voice mail so maybe I'll get lucky and he'll just mail them to me next week. Otherwise I'm going to spend the week answering my home phone as, "So-in-so Academy..."

 

They kinda laughed/guffawed when I told them I only needed 5 (and I beefed that number up so I wouldn't feel so stupid asking for 2). :glare:

DOH!! I just replied to your other message, saying that I wouldn't call.

 

Honestly, I wouldn't think about it again. If your dc ever go to school, y'all can deal with it at that point, but right now, it's not worth the brain cell energy. Really.

[Ellie]

Yes, I'm kind of wondering about the level of angst they are causing, and the word "mandatory" they are throwing around. It seems to be a big deal over nothing, really. We are in a homeschool charter school and I usually just print up the waiver online and sign it, but I had to physically go in an sign a new waiver for this, in front of a witness. :glare: tho, I have a waiver already on file. It seems a bit overdrive, ya know?!

 

my kids will be getting them, but we do things on a different schedule, it's just easier to do the waiver...

But for you it's different, because technically, your dc are enrolled in a public school. They have to do the same things with children at home as they do with children in a classroom.

 

And, yeah, it's overdrive. :tongue_smilie:

[elfgivas]

hi daisy -

 

did you file an R4? if so, the requirement is that you keep students immunization records NOT that the students be up to date on their immunizations....

 

fwiw,

ann

[Hen]

Yes, I understand my kids are considered public schooled- my remark had to do with how the State is pushing this, throwing around the word "mandatory" and making it difficult to get the new forms. The old forms, including the waiver were available online.

 

to the op, I agree with others, since you are homeschooling, I wouldn't waste worry or time/energy on it. If/when your kids move to another school, deal with it then. :D

[abbeyej]

...

If you're filing your own R4, you don't need to worry about it...

 

This is NOT true. It's extremely unlikely that anyone would ever ASK to see the immunizations of an individual family filing an R4, but it's still required by law. A family filing an R4 *is* a private school and is required to have those records on file (even if those records are an exemption form).