Local school districts take proactive approach with measles

Local school districts have been directed by the Riverside County Health Department to identify students who have not been vaccinated, to stay proactive with recent measles exposures in Southern California.

The Desert Sands Unified School District released 66 students from Palm Desert High School Wednesday because they weren’t listed as receiving the full immunization for measles.? The move came after one student at the school was suspected of having measles. Health officials are still awaiting test results to determine if that was actually the case.

Officials with D.S.U.S.D. said ten of those 66 students were allowed to return to school Thursday because they had their proper vaccination paperwork.

The Coachella Valley Unified School District and Palm Springs Unified School District have now pulled records from all of their students to determine who hasn’t been vaccinated, just in case there were ever to be a suspected case of measles in one of their districts.

Out of 18,000 students, C.V.U.S.D. officials said they identified 28 students who are not vaccinated because of medical reasons or personal/religious beliefs.

Officials said if there was a suspected case in in their school district, the Department of Public Health will determine how to take further action (such as Desert Sands Unified School District releasing the 66 students temporarily).

C.V.U.S.D. has been communicating with site administrators to make sure all precautions are being taken to keep its students healthy. The district also sent out a letter to all its schools to be distributed to parents.

P.S.U.S.D. officials said their district has a little under 24,000 students and the number of students whose parents signed opt-out waivers is 222.

Read the full letter from C.V.U.S.D.