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Public health sends suspension notices to thousands of Ottawa students
ROBERT BOSTELAAR, OTTAWA CITIZEN
More from Robert Bostelaar, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: December 10, 2015 | Last Updated: December 10, 2015 11:04 PM EST
After months of warning parents to provide proof their children have been vaccinated, Ottawa’s health department has begun issuing school suspensions to children with missing or outdated records.
The 20-day suspensions will begin as early as Tuesday for the first of what could several thousand students unless their parents can show they have had their shots.
Ottawa Public Health had sent 35,000 letters, starting in late October. An OPH official had said on Oct. 8 that the suspension letters wouldn’t go out until late December.
Second-notice letters arrived this week for 2,000 Ottawa families had not responded and who now must scramble if they want to keep children in school until the Christmas break starts on Dec. 21. To date, 5,000 second notice-of-suspension letters have been sent to parents, said public health spokeswoman Donna Casey in an email.
“I feel like I was kind of blindsided with this suspension,” said Caroline Pomeroy, whose nine-year-old daughter Lila and seven-year-old son Jack are named in the notice Pomeroy received by regular mail from Ottawa Public Health.
Pomeroy said her children have had some vaccinations, but she resisted getting them the combined measles-mumps-rubella shot because of a family history of adverse reactions and other health issues. She was arranging to deliver “statement of conscience” exemption forms to the health department that will allow her children to remain in their classes at Our Lady of Victory Elementary School in west-end Ottawa.
Since the notices went out, the health department has been getting 600 calls a day and has assigned extra staff to direct parents to doctors or take updated vaccination details to enter into a provincial database, said public health spokeswoman Sherry Nigro. The department has also set up “catch-up clinics” in the east and west ends. Call 613-580-6744 for appointments.
“We’re delighted to see that kind of response from parents,” said Nigro, manager of health promotion and disease prevention.
Suspension notices will be sent in stages until March, Nigro said.
As recently as October, the records of 50,000 students in Ottawa remained incomplete, despite an extensive phone and letter campaign that began last summer. Now that suspension notices are going out, officials hope that number will fall dramatically.
School boards are required by provincial law to uphold suspensions until they receive notice from the health department that children have had the required shots. The Ottawa Catholic School Board said it has been working with health authorities since summer to ensure parents know they must submit records.
“Parents will have received multiple notices from Ottawa Public Health, a phone call and email from the Board, and communication directly from the school prior to them receiving a suspension notice,” the board said in a statement. “We have also used the Board’s social media channels to put out information about where and how to update records.”
Suspension notices for students of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board are not expected before early January, a spokeswoman for the public board said.
Nigro said suspended students who show up for class on Tuesday will not be sent home, but the will be barred from returning the following day.
“I’m very sympathetic that this is frustrating for families that have a million things on the go,” said Nigro, who said the staging of letters and potential suspensions was planned to have the least impact on student testing and the school year.
While “vaccination avoiders” have gained increasing attention, Nigro said only about two per cent of the population does not get vaccinated. She said the health department will provide guidance to parents seeking exemptions for medical, religious or philosophical reasons.
Pomeroy, however, said obtaining the exemptions is a complicated process that requires forms to be notarized and delivered to the health department. She’s also frustrated that the department has no record of her children’s vaccinations for tetanus and other diseases, despite her sending in notice.
“I cannot believe how difficult they are making it.”
The large number of outdated records was revealed this year when Ottawa Public Health returned to routine surveillance of students after dropping such monitoring after 2013. Medical officer of health Dr. Isra Levy, however, has insisted that vaccine coverage is high in Ottawa.
ROBERT BOSTELAAR, OTTAWA CITIZENMore from Robert Bostelaar, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: December 10, 2015 | Last Updated: December 10, 2015 11:04 PM EST
After months of warning parents to provide proof their children have been vaccinated, Ottawa’s health department has begun issuing school suspensions to children with missing or outdated records.
The 20-day suspensions will begin as early as Tuesday for the first of what could several thousand students unless their parents can show they have had their shots.
Ottawa Public Health had sent 35,000 letters, starting in late October. An OPH official had said on Oct. 8 that the suspension letters wouldn’t go out until late December.
Second-notice letters arrived this week for 2,000 Ottawa families had not responded and who now must scramble if they want to keep children in school until the Christmas break starts on Dec. 21. To date, 5,000 second notice-of-suspension letters have been sent to parents, said public health spokeswoman Donna Casey in an email.
“I feel like I was kind of blindsided with this suspension,” said Caroline Pomeroy, whose nine-year-old daughter Lila and seven-year-old son Jack are named in the notice Pomeroy received by regular mail from Ottawa Public Health.
Pomeroy said her children have had some vaccinations, but she resisted getting them the combined measles-mumps-rubella shot because of a family history of adverse reactions and other health issues. She was arranging to deliver “statement of conscience” exemption forms to the health department that will allow her children to remain in their classes at Our Lady of Victory Elementary School in west-end Ottawa.
Since the notices went out, the health department has been getting 600 calls a day and has assigned extra staff to direct parents to doctors or take updated vaccination details to enter into a provincial database, said public health spokeswoman Sherry Nigro. The department has also set up “catch-up clinics” in the east and west ends. Call 613-580-6744 for appointments.
“We’re delighted to see that kind of response from parents,” said Nigro, manager of health promotion and disease prevention.
Suspension notices will be sent in stages until March, Nigro said.
As recently as October, the records of 50,000 students in Ottawa remained incomplete, despite an extensive phone and letter campaign that began last summer. Now that suspension notices are going out, officials hope that number will fall dramatically.
School boards are required by provincial law to uphold suspensions until they receive notice from the health department that children have had the required shots. The Ottawa Catholic School Board said it has been working with health authorities since summer to ensure parents know they must submit records.
“Parents will have received multiple notices from Ottawa Public Health, a phone call and email from the Board, and communication directly from the school prior to them receiving a suspension notice,” the board said in a statement. “We have also used the Board’s social media channels to put out information about where and how to update records.”
Suspension notices for students of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board are not expected before early January, a spokeswoman for the public board said.
Nigro said suspended students who show up for class on Tuesday will not be sent home, but the will be barred from returning the following day.
“I’m very sympathetic that this is frustrating for families that have a million things on the go,” said Nigro, who said the staging of letters and potential suspensions was planned to have the least impact on student testing and the school year.
While “vaccination avoiders” have gained increasing attention, Nigro said only about two per cent of the population does not get vaccinated. She said the health department will provide guidance to parents seeking exemptions for medical, religious or philosophical reasons.
Pomeroy, however, said obtaining the exemptions is a complicated process that requires forms to be notarized and delivered to the health department. She’s also frustrated that the department has no record of her children’s vaccinations for tetanus and other diseases, despite her sending in notice.
“I cannot believe how difficult they are making it.”
The large number of outdated records was revealed this year when Ottawa Public Health returned to routine surveillance of students after dropping such monitoring after 2013. Medical officer of health Dr. Isra Levy, however, has insisted that vaccine coverage is high in Ottawa.
有本事下周三就停！反正要放寒假了
