La Mesa Middle School Less Than Halfway to Meeting Vaccination Law

Fewer than half of the 670 students at La Mesa Middle School have gotten the mandatory Tdap vaccine, say district officials, but the deadline is still two weeks away.

Brian Marshall, superintendent of the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District, said Monday that La Mesa Middle, which became a seventh- and eighth-grade junior high when school began Aug. 17, “has a 47 percent compliance rate” on the booster shot.

Parkway, with more than 800 students, has an 83 percent compliance rate, Marshall said.

“State law requires all students have the Tdap vaccine by seventh grade,” Marshall said. “I am sure we will meet this requirement by the deadline,” which Principal Beth Thomas of La Mesa Middle said is Sept. 5.

Mary Beason, principal at Parkway, said only 15 students are recorded as opting out of the Tdap vaccination program, with families seeking “personal belief” exemptions.

Thomas said none of her La Mesa Middle students have opted out as of Monday.

As of Friday, more than 42,000 seventh- through 12th- graders countywide still needed to provide proof they have received the pertussis (whooping cough) booster shot or get vaccinated against the disease, said county officials, who have been working with the county Office of Education and school districts to organize vaccination clinics.

The La Mesa-Spring Valley K-8 district had 11,949 students in its 21 schools last week, Marshall said. 

Parkway’s Beason said her school used phone messages over the summer months to remind parents Tdap was due. 

La Mesa Middle’s Thomas said: “We’ve been sending out phone messages, emails and fliers since last year. It’s been on our [school] marquee since last year.”

Both schools will retain their names, school officials said Tuesday.

Wilma Wooten, county public health officer, said last week: “The booster shot will help protect students from contracting pertussis and avoid infecting their classmates or younger siblings at home.”

The Tdap requirement is a result of Assembly Bill 354, which took effect July 1 and requires tweens and teens through 12th grade—in public and private schools—to show proof of having received the pertussis booster shot, or Tdap, to enroll in school.

An estimated 40,000 middle and high school students still needed to be vaccinated or show proof they’ve received the vaccine last week; 21,000 of those attend school in the San Diego Unified School District, the county said.

AB 354 was passed after last year’s pertussis epidemic, which set  records for whooping cough cases statewide, including San Diego County, where 1,144 cases were reported. This year, 335 pertussis cases have been reported to date.

Pertussis is a highly contagious disease that can spread quickly and can be deadly. In 2010, two county infants died from complications of the disease.

For more information about Tdap or the vaccination clinics, visit sdiz.org or call 211.

Meanwhile, Marshall said he was pleased with the latest STAR test scores for La Mesa schools (see attached chart):

“We have not seen all of the data yet as the state has not released the sub group, API or AYP data,” Marshall said.  “Based on the STAR data we have, I am pleased with our results. We can always improve and will continue to work toward the goal of 100 percent of our students being proficient and advanced.”

What is he most proud of?

“I am proud of all of our schools and students,” he said via email.  “Certainly there are some very strong results in this data—second-grade math at La Mesa Dale and Murray Manor stand out as does fourth-grade English at Lemon, Murdock and Murray Manor.”

What areas are he most concerned about?

“We are always concerned about lower scores,” he said. “There are several grade levels and scores that are not where we want them to be, and we will be working with the principal and teachers at those sites to get the scores where they need to be.”