Saturday, September 08, 2001

Immunization tiff could sting

Districts dispute state's figures, fight to keep funds

By Jennifer Toomer-Cook
Deseret News staff writer

      A dozen Utah school districts could lose more than a half million dollars because some of their students weren't immunized last school year.
      But some of those school districts are contesting the state's numbers of unimmunized students. Some say they'll lose just a fraction of state estimates, and some say everything has been cleared up.
      Box Elder, Garfield, Granite, Juab, Logan, Murray, Nebo, Ogden, Provo, Salt Lake, Tintic and Tooele school districts combined lose $531,500 in state weighted pupil unit funding — the state's basic education funding — because 271 students couldn't prove they had been immunized or legally exempted from immunizations under state law, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Steve Laing said Friday.
      Salt Lake, Granite, and Box Elder districts account for the lion's share of the projected loss, with $175,628, $135,201 and $131, 427, respectively. The others are relatively paltry sums, ranging from Nebo's $1,516 — not even one full student's worth of WPU money — to $19,044, or nine students' worth, in Murray and Tintic.
      State law says school districts won't receive WPU money unless they prove students are up to date on immunizations or have been exempted under certain conditions, including medical or religious concerns.
      State Associate Superintendent Pat Ogden couldn't recall withholding WPU funds because of immunizations in the past. But this year, he said, school nurses reported who received shots to the Utah Department of Health instead of to school districts, which may bring more accurate reporting.
      Some school districts, however, dispute that explanation.
      Salt Lake, for instance, has found more than half of the 83 reportedly unimmunized students actually were "not entered into the computer correctly," spokesman Jason Olsen said. Instead, the district has found 33 students were not in compliance, bringing its lost funding to about $70,000.
      Granite District also was finding reporting errors, spokeswoman Michele Bartmess said.
      Box Elder Superintendent Martell Menlove said some of the 62 students the state says were not immunized actually may have received the shots, but proof was not provided. He also believes a couple of schools allowed students who didn't receive their shots to attend school.
      "I hope (the state will) allow us to go back and at least look at those records and make sure," Menlove said.
      Ogden said his office will examine the district's reporting examinations before taking action on the WPU money. "We've not withheld it yet."

E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com