Missing forms could keep 1,200 out of school

Jefferson County Public Schools' youngest students may be ready for the first day of school Wednesday, but unless the schools have their immunization forms, there won’t be a seat for them in class.

JCPS is still waiting on forms from about 1,200 Early Head Start, Head Start and state Pre-K students, which Early Childhood Education Director James Francis attributes to a recent change in district policy.

“Every day is an important day for the child to be in school to get them kindergarten ready,” he said, adding all 4,000 children enrolled in the program will hit the ground running on the first day of school learning important social skills.

Last November, JCPS eliminated the 10-day window in which parents could turn in proof of immunization after classes started. The change allows the district to better comply with state and federal requirements for public school districts to have the records on file, he said.

“We would have students that would be put into our program and then once they were in the program, the parents didn’t see the sense of urgency in getting the document in,” Francis said, adding federal and state monitors would then come in and ask to see the records, and the school wouldn’t have them all.

Parents were notified of the change in policy when they came in to enroll their children in the program, and staff sent several reminders throughout the summer and again reminded them during teacher home visits, he said.

Students without the proper forms Wednesday will not be allowed into the classroom on the first day of school. Bus drivers have also been notified not to pick up any student for whom forms are missing.

But the good news, Francis said, is parents can drop the forms off at the school with their students, and “the child can take their seat immediately (and) there won’t be any problem.”

Because it will likely take up to 24 hours to process the immunization forms with the transportation department, Francis asks parents who would normally send their students home on a bus in the afternoon to pick the child up after school Wednesday.

“We’re really grateful and thankful for the parents that have already gotten their documents in," he said. "We have no doubt the other parents will get them in as well."

Reporter Kirsten Clark can be reached at (502) 582-4144 or on Twitter at @kirstenlmclark. Follow the Courier-Journal’s education team on Facebook at Facebook.com/SchooledCJ.