Seattle Public Schools Tell Students to Get Vaccinated or Don't Come Back

A measles outbreak has resulted in Seattle Public Schools' taking some harsh measures. The school officials have told their 2,274 students to either get vaccinated or risk not being accepted to class.

RELATED: GERMAN PARENTS FACE A HEFTY FINE IF THEY DON'T VACCINATE THEIR KIDS

"Student records must reflect updated immunization status by January 8, 2020, or students cannot attend school until the required information is provided to the school nurse. Families of students whose records are not up to date or are missing information will be notified via email, postal mail, and a letter home from your child’s school," said the notice on the district website.

The district has scheduled three free clinics at Seattle schools over the holidays to aid students in getting in compliance. And school officials are saying the warnings are to be taken seriously.

Left out of school

Students who do not comply with vaccination requirements will be left out of school and those absences will count as unexcused. “Unfortunately, by state law, we have to exclude them,” Tim Robinson, spokesman for the Seattle Public Schools, said to ABC affiliate KOMO-TV in Seattle.

“They would be excluded here, they would be excluded at any school district, and we certainly want to avoid that. I know all schools want to avoid it because you don’t want students to miss any school time.”

Luckily the procedure for getting vaccinations is a simple and quick one. “We got a letter saying you’ve got to get these vaccinations,” said Grant Rhys-Jones, a Seattle parent to KIRO 7. “We got it all done, luckily we could get into the doctor.”

Washington state officials decided to get rid of the “personal” exemption for the MMR vaccine after two measles outbreaks infected 87 people. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from January 1 to December 5, 2019, 1,276 cases of measles were reported in 31 states, an alarming number.