Classes Resume for Most While Parents of Those Lacking Shots Are Contacted
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By Justin Blum
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 4, 2002; Page B01
Thousands of District public school students were not allowed to start school yesterday morning because they did not have required vaccinations, a recurring problem that kept many children out of class last year.
By yesterday afternoon, 5,535 children in the 68,000-student system still lacked paperwork showing that they had received their shots, school officials said. Under school policy, those students were to be barred from attending class, although officials could not confirm that all of them were kept out.
Some students were held in cafeterias and auditoriums while school employees called their parents. Others went directly to free shot clinics, some of which appeared overwhelmed.
Many parents said they had immunized their children last year and had not realized that they needed follow-up shots. Some parents said they learned about the need for shots in phone calls from the school system over the weekend or after their children arrived for class yesterday.
Wilma Ellis yesterday took her four children to a mobile clinic outside Spingarn Senior High in Northeast. She said she had recently taken her children to a local health clinic for immunizations but that it was out of the hepatitis vaccine.
"I knew they were missing it," said the Southeast resident. "The clinic said they would let me know when it came back in stock. They never did."
Herbert Williams brought his son Antonio and daughter Felisha to the Spingarn clinic for shots after receiving a call over the weekend from school officials. He said they had moved from Maryland and did not know they were behind in their immunizations.
"I've been so busy -- single parent, just found out this information," Williams said. "I didn't know they were missing shots."
For his part, Antonio, 14, said he did not mind missing part of the first day at Spingarn and was pleased to have a slightly longer summer vacation. "I'm glad it's extended for another hour," he said with a grin.
As of Friday, 6,660 students had records indicating that they were out of compliance with immunization rules, according to Ralph Neal, an assistant superintendent. Neal said that more than 1,100 students presented proof of immunization yesterday.
Midway through last school year, the D.C. school system -- after years of failing to enforce regulations requiring vaccinations -- barred from class thousands of students who were not up to date on their shots. By the end of the year, school officials said they had reduced to nearly zero the number of students needing shots.
School Superintendent Paul L. Vance yesterday was "extremely disappointed" that many parents had failed to immunize their children, said his spokeswoman, Linda Wharton Boyd.
"It's probably going to take a couple years before everybody gets it and it's part of the culture so that it becomes the total exception," said school board President Peggy Cooper Cafritz, referring to students who lacked shots.
As parents arrived at immunization sites yesterday, many were upset to see lines snaking down sidewalks. That was the case at the Anthony Bowen YMCA in Northwest, where more than 100 people waited on the sidewalk and under a giant white tent.
Peter Rosa traveled to the YMCA clutching his 11-year-old daughter Jenell's immunization paperwork. Rosa said that his daughter, a student at Stevens Elementary in Northwest, had been to the doctor but had been given a shot a week too early and was told that she needed to get it again.
Jenell said she was held at school with about 20 other students waiting for her father to arrive. She was unhappy to miss class. "I was looking forward to school," she said. "I was mad."
When Rosa saw the length of the line, he did a U-turn and said he would go to a private doctor's office. "I think it's kind of crazy," Rosa said. "I thought I had everything."
Outside Spingarn, about 40 people lined up for shots being dispensed from an RV run by the Georgetown University Children's Medical Center.
Among them was Ronalynnald Byrd, 10, a student at Wheatley Elementary in Northeast, who occasionally peeked through the door of the RV to see whether the children ahead of him were hurt by the needles.
His arms and legs trembled. When he got inside, his expression was pained. "How many shots do I gotta get?" he asked the doctor. The answer -- just one -- did not comfort him.
Ronalynnald stared at the needle as it pierced his skin. No tears. He said he could not even feel it.
© 2002 The Washington Post Company