Nurses gone during vaccination troubles
The deadline has come for sixth-graders without the Tdap (tetanus/diphtheria/pertussis) vaccination and some are facing suspension until the schools get the required paperwork. The number of those without vaccinations on file has dropped from 2,700 on Tuesday to 2,140 as of Wednesday at 5:15 p.m.
But the exact number of students at the schools this morning facing suspension is slow coming, in part due to the fact that the school nurses are at a state meeting this morning, according to a schools spokeswoman.
That begs the question why? It’s one I’m trying to find the answer to and will likely have something to do with big deposits paid on things. Still, some might wonder why some nurses weren't left at home to help manage this very serious situation. Your thoughts?
*UPDATE* The meeting is being held in Greensboro. To clairify, the school nurses are not repsonsible for administering the vaccinations, just keeping up with the files.
Comments (12)
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It is not the responsiblity of GCS or the Guilford County taxpayer to supply the vaccination or see to it that the students can receive it.
They are only legally responsible for upholding the law..
They are not even legally bound to continually remind the parents to get this done.
This is the parents responsibility!
Suspend the students and if they are not back in school within three days and vaccinated
...arrest the ignorant, delinquent parents!!
My goodness...they can receive the shots FREE
(actually you and I are paying for them)
It's time for some tough love!!!
Posted on September 25, 2008 11:04 AM
What the heck do school nurses have to do with this? We do not have school nurses in every school...
There is one at ours once a week for a few hours!
The required paperwork can be turned in at the office...
The crisis is the parents problem....
Posted on September 25, 2008 11:09 AM
I remember the days when the shots were administered right in the schools. Since the Tdap is mandated, and all the kids are at school, would it have just made too much sense for the shots to come to them? Why didn't the health dept. schedule a day to come to each school? Wouldn't that make more sense than thousands of families trying to get appointments.
I understand this is a newly mandated injection that was just made aware to parents via a letter home mid-way through summer. Did our school board do anything to help this situation? They really should have been working with the Dept. of Health to make this all a bit easier.
Posted on September 26, 2008 8:50 AM
ditto "Shots to Go". Now that would just make too much common sense.
First week: get all permission slips signed and returned.
Second week: have the Health Dept come to the school and give the shots
Kids get the hepatitis shop in middle school with a permission slip. Why not this shot?
If permission slips aren't returned, then suspend.
Posted on September 26, 2008 1:55 PM
ditto "Shots to Go". Now that would just make too much common sense.
First week: get all permission slips signed and returned.
Second week: have the Health Dept come to the school and give the shots
Kids get the hepatitis shot in middle school with a permission slip. Why not this shot?
If permission slips aren't returned, then suspend.
Posted on September 26, 2008 1:55 PM
Once again....not the schools responsibility.....
If the state passed the law ... then it should be the responsibility of the state to pass on the info...
It should be the responsibility of the parents to pay for the shot. They chose to have the kid.
Posted on September 29, 2008 10:49 AM
if the student doesn't have a social security number or birth cerificate, will they still be allowed to get the shot? and come back to school?
Posted on September 29, 2008 5:40 PM
Oh my goodness! Remember getting flouride treatments at school? That wasn't their responsibility either, but the flouride came to the students! It just made sense. You're right, it's not the business of the schools but now look at all the time it has taken away from learning. Now the school office had to call families, then the kids taken out of class, the teachers disrupted, the classes disrupted, etc...stupid! Bring the shots to the kids!! It's so simple it's really stupid. It's not the job of our schools to be a clinic, I agree. But it would have been less time consuming, less costly and less problematic had they scheduled a day for the health dept. to come. The concern of our system should always be "how can we get the most minutes of education"...and it never is.
Posted on September 29, 2008 10:00 PM
Socialism at its best...!!
We can get the most minutes out of our schools by not dealing with issues that are not the schools issue in the first place.
The students that were suspended should have never been allowed in the front door on August 1st to begin with...
Parents will make sure the students have the required immunizations when they realize no one is going to do it for them.
In a democracy.......
It is my responsibility as a parent to make sure that my child receives an education and that the education is not continually disrupted by those that think it is the government's responsibility to think for them.
It is the child's responsibility to do the work!
It is my responsibility to take my child to the doctor for annual exams and receive the required vaccinations.
It is the school's responsibility to educate, but they are so busy doing "the parent's job" that there is little time for reading, writing, and arithmetic.
In many schools today, parents expect their child to be picked up at the front door, fed, clothed, provided medical care, complete homework assignments, and brought back just to sleep.
Do you know that the thought of the day is to give no child a grade lower than a 69
...regardless of whether they do homework or attend class? "It damages kids to fail them!!"
We have a soft society and we are creating a softer one....
It is time to hold parents accountable for doing their job so we can hold the schools accountable to do theirs!
Educate !
Posted on September 30, 2008 7:40 AM
"Hold parent's accountable",
You wear rosey-colored glasses. What happens to the kids that don't have good parents? Your view is a little selfish. Not all kids are lucky enough to have parents that care. Sad, but true and the kids should not be punished for having been born into such a situation. Thank goodness there are people who reach out to these kids. For some, school is their only refuge.
Posted on September 30, 2008 2:00 PM
Put kids first...
I don't wear "rose-colored glasses", but I do believe if the majority of parents had known about the immunizations in time...it would have been taken care of. They probably thought it would be offered at school like the Hep vaccine.
Don't underestimate the parents. Look at how many students showed up in SMOD attire this year and it was all the "Parents decision" to see that it happened........ It was not free and it hit them in their pocketbook.....
SMOD has been enforced and supported by the parents in the lowest income neighborhoods where you see the least amount of parental support in the school.
Only "three out of 1200" students at Northeast were out of SMOD compliance on opening day!
You really think these same parents are too ignorant to see to it that the students receive the
required immunizations....
I think the parents did not know about the immunizations, the timeline, or the fact that the kids could be suspended.
I think you are selling the majority of parents short!
Posted on September 30, 2008 3:01 PM
I agree...
There are a few kids that will need help...but that is why the health department, social services, and child welfare exists.
Posted on September 30, 2008 3:11 PM