Nearly 1,200 students at D.86 in Joliet don’t have state-required immunizations

Potentially hundreds of students in Joliet Public Schools District 86 might not return to school Monday if they can’t show proof of state-required immunizations by the end of Friday.

Sandy Zalewski, director for communications and development at District 86, said these are mainly students in kindergarten, second grade and sixth grade who still need their “normal childhood immunizations” such as polio, MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) and DPT (diptheria, pertussis and tetanus).

The District 86 website said that all students must provide proof of all immunizations that are required by the Illinois Department of Public Health

“If a student does not comply with these at the time of enrollment, the student will be excluded from school,” the website said.

Zalewski said the district typically sees about 900 students each year who fail to receive the immunizations Illinois requires of students in order to attend school.

On Wednesday 1,500 students were affected but that had dropped to 1,146 by late Thursday, Sunni McNeal, assistant superintendent of equity and student services, said.

“The numbers keep going down,” Zalewski said.

Even in non-COVID-19 years, not all students make that deadline and aren’t allowed to return to school until they receive the immunizations, and they anticipate the same happening this year, Zalewski and McNeal said.

The numbers are little higher this year because the health care system is overwhelmed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making it difficult for parents to get their children immunized before school began, Zalewski said.

“Doctors were backed up over the summer trying to keep up with appointments,” Zalewski said.

That’s why District 86 is allowing families to show proof they’ve made the appointments for their children as part of Friday’s cutoff date. District 86 is not expecting all 1,500 students to be immunized by Friday.

“We want the kids in school,” McNeal said.

To that end, the District 86 nurse has been contacting families to encourage them to make those appointments and submit the appropriate paperwork, Zalewski said.

“The nurse is working very hard with families and – in some cases – making the appointments on their behalf,” McNeal said.

The Illinois Department of Public Health has the minimum immunization requirements for students entering school for fall 2021 posted on its website at dph.illinois.gov.