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Kimberly Houk ReportingIt's that time of year again, kids are getting ready to head back to school. And schools want to remind parents that if your kids are not immunized, they're not going to let them in the door.
This year schools are standing firm -- no shots, no school. This is because doctors say immunizations keep kids safe from contagious illnesses. But schools also request them because if they don't, they lose money.
Granite School District has lost as much as $45,000 in the past for allowing kids who aren't immunized to continue to go to school. There are six shots that kids entering kindergarten must get -- polio, measles, mumps and rubella, a vaccination against chicken pox, hepatitis A and B, and a DTP shot that protects them against whooping cough, an illness that Utah saw an outbreak of recently.
It's up to the school's administrators to track kids and make sure they're vaccinated. Kids who are not immunized in time to start school have 30 days to get the shots or they will not be allowed in school.
State law allows for three exemptions against vaccinating. Parents can opt out of it for medical, religious, or personal reasons. But if there is an outbreak of any kind at a school, the exempt kids, or those who have not been vaccinated will not be allowed in school.
