Cosmopolis, McCleary among districts with most kids lacking immunizations, auditor says

Two Grays Harbor school districts had among state’s highest rates for kindergartners not getting immunizations.

In a report entitled “Common Barriers to Compliance with Student Immunization Requirements” released Thursday (Dec. 19), the state Auditor’s Office said, The Cosmopolis and McCleary schools were among the 10 districts in the state with the highest percentage of out-of-compliance rates for kindergartners during the 2017-18 school year. The Auditor did a statewide performance audit to see how the program was working.

The report highlighted the following facts:

Washington does not know its true student vaccination rate, because of gaps in records and reporting.

Some principals across the state choose not to exclude students who don’t provide their immunization documentation.

Schools that actively engaged parents and monitored students’ immunization status had higher rates of compliance.

There were 44 kindergartners in McCleary the year the Auditor’s studied. Of those, 16 kids, or 36%, of the class did not have the proper vaccination paperwork turned into the district. In Cosmopolis, there were 21 kindergartners enrolled. Fourteen (67%) were out of compliance with state law when in comes to immunizations.

Cherie Patterson, superintendent and principal of the Cosmopolis School District, said that the filing of immunization records during the 2017-18 school year were “submitted incorrectly” and could not be corrected when they asked to do so.

“We have a much higher immunization compliance rate,” she said. “We are at 100% of our kindergartners have the immunizations that are required by law.”

In the 2017-18 school year, 90% of the state’s 295 districts reported immunization data to the state Department of Health. The audit is based on that data. The Auditor’s Office said 29 districts either reported having no kindergartners or did not report the data.

The state’s goal is 95% vaccination compliance rate. Four districts in Grays Harbor had 5% or fewer students out of compliance for the studied year: Oakville (5%), Elma (4%), Aberdeen (1%) and Tahaloh (0%).

In order to be considered in compliance with state laws requiring immunizations, students must be fully vaccinated, been granted an exemption or have offered proof of progress toward full immunization. Diseases that the state requires students get vaccinations for include, measles, mumps, tetanus, diptheria, hepatitis B, polio and chickenpox.

Of the schools that reported across the state, 65,561 kindergartners were fully immunized, 1,138 showed proof of progress toward full vaccination, 3,286 were exempt and 6,233 were out of compliance.

The report offers multiple suggestions for districts to increase vaccination rates, including informing parents that schools are required by law to exclude students from attending if the child is not in compliance.

“Schools that actively engaged parents have higher document compliance rates. In addition, schools that actively monitored and reviewed students’ progress also saw greater compliance with records and with vaccination,” the Auditor’s report states. “Schools with lower compliance rates generally did not use these strategies to the same degree.”

Grays Harbor District Kindergartners Kindergartners out of compliance (%)

Cosmopolis 21 14 (67%)

McCleary 44 16 (36%)

Lake Quinault 15 3 (20%)

Wishkah Valley 11 2 (18%)

Hoquiam 126 21 (17%)

Montesano 94 13 (14%)

Ocosta 34 4 (12%)

North Beach 62 7 (11%)

Satsop 11 2 (9%)

Oakville 21 1 (5%)

Elma 110 4 (4%)