Blog note: this article references a grand jury report.
Immunization rates in Laguna Beach public schools have improved dramatically and stand at 93 percent of student enrolled in the current school year, a marked improvement from the 86.3 percent in 2016 and the 71.1 percent rate in 2013.
District spokeswoman Leisa Winston says that the district’s staff has “worked tirelessly to provide outreach to parents regarding immunizations and student safety, and families are responding positively.”
Based on the 2016 vaccination rates, more unvaccinated students were enrolled in the Laguna Beach district than any other in the county, according to a report released by the county grand jury in May.
While Laguna’s immunization rates may be on the rise, student enrollment rates are in decline, dropping 3.5 percent in the current school year compared to the district’s student population in the fall of 2016.
This fall, enrollment at El Morro Elementary stands at 469 children, Top of the World Elementary has 603, Thurston Middle School has 778, and Laguna Beach High School has 1,100. Total enrollment is 2,950 students in 2017-18, according to district figures.
By comparison, in the previous school year, El Morro enrolled 526 students, TOW 610, Thurston 776, and LBHS 1,144, for a total of 3,056 students.
Shots required for K-12 students are listed on the website provided by the California Department of Health. Children entering transitional or regular kindergarten, aged 4-6, must show proof of proper vaccinations for chickenpox, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, measles, mumps, rubella and polio. Those entering seventh grade need to submit immunization records for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis as well as measles, mumps, and rubella.
Dr. David Nuñez family health medical director of the Orange County Health Care Agency, says the countywide immunization rate stood at 95.5 percent in 2016, the most recent figures available.
Nuñez is pleased by this increase, which represents the county’s highest rate of immunization in 20 years. However, he says the county should strive for 100% immunization.
Historically, six school districts have lagged below the immunization rates posted in other areas of Orange County, according to Nuñez. Besides Laguna, they include Capistrano, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Newport-Mesa, and Saddleback. He says that many parents in these districts chose to file personal belief exemptions (PBE) to vaccinations.
In 2014, AB 2109 was enacted and health care providers were required to tell parents about the potential health risks resulting from choosing an exemption. The risk materialized with measles outbreaks in Orange County in 2014 and 2015. Last March, an LBHS student contracted measles, bringing the risk directly to a Laguna campus.
New state legislation has eliminated parents’ ability to file personal belief exemptions to vaccines, though districts continue to honor PBE’s filed before Jan. 1, 2016. As a result, all six of the low-performing school districts experienced significant rates of improvement, says Nuñez. However, after the new legislation took effect, he says the county had a fourfold increase in the percentage of students with permanent medical exemptions (PME). Countywide, the number of kindergarteners with PME’s jumped to 348 children from 92.Nuñez lists Laguna Beach and Capistrano as the two school districts with the highest percentage of PME’s in Orange County. Laguna Beach and Capistrano as the two school districts with the highest percentage of PME’s in Orange County.
September 17, 2017
Laguna Beach Independent
By Amy Orr
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