LTUSD may be exclude unvaccinated students from school

With over 200 students in the Lake Tahoe Unified School District not immunized against the measles, district officials are monitoring the situation and may even exclude those children from attending classes.

Even though there are no cases in El Dorado County as of yet, the cases in Washoe County and Bay Area are of concern.

During the ongoing measles outbreak, the Personal Beliefs Exemption form has taken on increased significance. As the form indicates, students who are exempted from required immunizations may be excluded from attending school during an outbreak of, or after exposure to, certain communicable diseases.

Lake Tahoe Environmental Magnet School has 16% of the student body with such a signed waiver on file. Sixteen students have not had any vaccines, while 24 have not had the measles vaccine.

At Bijou Elementary, 5% of the students have a the waiver on file, with 24 kids without a measles vaccine. The other school figures are as follows: Sierra House Elementary - 6% have a signed waiver, 23 with no measles vaccine; Tahoe Valley Elementary - 7% have a signed waiver, 33 with no measles vaccine; South Tahoe Middle School - 9% have a signed waiver, 43 with no measles vaccine; South Tahoe High School - 9% have a signed waiver, 38 with no measles vaccine. Of Mt. Tallac's 86 students, two students do not have the measles vaccine.

If a case of measles turns up in a South Lake Tahoe school, those children unvaccinated will not be allowed to go to school for 21 days to protect themselves and prevent further spread of the disease according to the El Dorado County Health Department.