Measles outbreak sheds light on few rules for teacher vaccinations

As of Tuesday, the number of measles cases in the US sits at 141. The three local school districts in the Coachella Valley have been monitoring which students have or have not had the vaccine. However, the districts and the state do not monitor or require teacher vaccinations.

“Now I don’t know if my kids teachers are vaccinated and I’m really worried,” said parent, Gabriela Recinos.

When it comes to teachers and staff, schools do not keep track of measles vaccinations.

“We’re not required to check with our employees for their immunization however it was an interesting conversation this morning,” said Jane Mills of Palm Springs Unified School District.

Mills says up until this latest measles outbreak the district did not worry about employees’ immunization history. In most states, there is no law dictating which vaccines are required for teachers and school staff workers. However, in the case of an outbreak this district feels that knowledge may be beneficial.

“One of the ideas we had is that we could ask our staff to voluntarily let us know if they feel that they might be at risk,” explained Mills.

It is highly contagious and adults who have not had their vaccinations may be just as likely to get measles. Some argue most adults have already had measles.

“Others that may be in that grey area that didn’t get immunized and haven’t had the disease,” said Mills. “That’s the scary part. There may be a layer of adults in our greater school community that fall into that gap.”

In the Coachella Valley Unified School District most students have had the vaccine. They say that lowers the risk for their teachers.

“Out of the 18,000 students we have here in the school district, only 28 we unvaccinated,” said Francinni Zabata of the district.

The Desert Sands Unified School District says it’s suggesting that staff get vaccinated for their own well-being. They also said they will follow any actions from the state.

Still, parents we talked to say they’d find comfort knowing everyone at school has had their vaccination.

“Everyone needs to be vaccinated — the students, the teachers, anybody who works with kids needs to be vaccinated,” concluded Recinos.