CWCS Board Approved: August 22, 2023

The Board of Directors of Connecting Waters Charter Schools (“CWCS” or “Charter School”), a California nonprofit public benefit corporation operating public charter schools, will adhere to all laws related to legally required immunizations for entering students pursuant to Health and Safety Code Sections 120325-120380, and Title 17, California Code of Regulations Sections 6000-6075.

All students must be fully immunized in accordance with the California Health and Safety Code, the California Code of Regulations, and this Policy with the exceptions as listed below. Students who are enrolled in a home-based private school or independent study program and do not receive any classroom-based instruction or resource center support are not required to be in compliance with the immunization requirements.

Required Immunizations, Records and Reports

California law requires that an immunization record be presented to CWCS staff before a child can be unconditionally enrolled in school. Entering students who are not exempt must provide CWCS written verification from a doctor or immunization clinic of the following immunizations:

NOTE: Four doses of DTaP are allowed if one was given on or after the fourth birthday. Three doses meet the requirement if at least one dose of Tdap, DTaP, or DTP vaccine was given on or after the seventh birthday (also meets the 7th-12th grade Tdap requirement.) One or two doses of Td vaccine given on or after the seventh birthday count towards the requirement. Three doses of Polio are allowed if one was given on or after fourth birthday. MMR doses must be given on or after first birthday. Two doses of
measles, two doses of mumps, and one dose of rubella vaccine meet the requirement, separately or combined. Combination vaccines (e.g., MMRV) meet the requirements for individual component vaccines.

2 NOTE: In order to begin seventh grade, students who had a valid personal belief exemption on file with a public or private elementary or secondary school in California before January 1, 2016 must meet all requirements for the TK/K-12 grade levels (i.e., polio, MMR, chickenpox/varicella and primary series for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis), in addition to the seventh grade requirements for Tdap (at least one dose of pertussis-containing vaccine on or after the seventh birthday) and two (2) doses of Varicella (varicella requirement for seventh grade advancement expires after June 30, 2025).



Verification of immunizations will be completed with written medical records from the child’s doctor or immunization clinic. Immunization records shall be part of the mandatory permanent pupil record and shall be kept in accordance with CWCS’s record-keeping policy. CWCS will file a written report on the immunization status of all new entrants to CWCS with the California Department of Public Health (“CDPH”), on at least an annual basis, as required by law.

Any child leaving the United States for a short vacation to or long stay in any country considered by the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) to have increased risk of TB exposure MUST contact the County Tuberculosis Clinic for a TB Screening upon return.

CWCS shall immediately admit a foster child, as defined in Education Code Section 48853.5(a), and a homeless child, as defined in Section 11434a(2) of Title 42 of the United States Code, even if the foster or homeless child’s immunization records are not available or are missing. However, this does not alter CWCS’s obligation to obtain immunization records for foster and homeless students or to ensure the full immunization of foster and homeless students as required by law.

If CWCS discovers that an admitted student who was previously believed to be in compliance with the immunization requirements is subsequently discovered to not be in compliance with either the unconditional admission requirements or the conditional admission requirements

CWCS will notify the student’s parent/guardian of: 1) the time period within which the doses must be received, which may be no more than ten (10) school days after notification; and 2) that the student shall continue in attendance only if the parent/guardian provides documentation that the immunization requirements have been met within the time period designated by CWCS. If the student does not provide documentation of having received all required immunizations within the time period designated by CWCS, CWCS shall exclude this student from attendance. The student shall remain excluded from CWCS’s campuses until the student provides proper
documentation of the student’s compliance with the immunization requirements as required by law. The student shall also be reported to the School Registrar.

The Executive Director, or designee, may arrange for a licensed physician or a qualified
registered nurse to administer immunizations at CWCS to any student whose parent/guardian has consented in writing.
Whenever there is good cause to believe that a student has been exposed to a communicable disease listed in Health and Safety Code Section 120335(b) and the child’s documentary proof of immunization status does not show proof of immunization against that disease, that student may be temporarily excluded from the campuses until the local health officer is satisfied that the person is no longer at risk of developing or transmitting the disease.

Conditional Admission

Students may be conditionally admitted in accordance with Health and Safety Code Section 120340 and Title 17, California Code of Regulations Section 6035. The Executive Director or designee shall notify the student’s parents/guardians of the date by which the student must complete all the remaining doses. The Executive Director or designee shall review the immunization record of each student admitted conditionally at least every thirty (30) days from the date of admission until that student has received all the required immunizations or submitted a valid exemption. If a student conditionally admitted fails to fulfill the conditions of admission, CWCS will prohibit the student from further attendance until that student provides proper documentation of the student’s compliance with the immunization requirements as required by law.

Documentary Proof

The Executive Director shall maintain the student’s immunization information in the student’s mandatory permanent record and shall file annual immunization status reports as required by the CDPH.

Exemptions from Immunization Requirements

All students must be fully immunized in accordance with the California Health and Safety Code, the California Code of Regulations, and this Policy with the following exceptions:

1. Students who show proof of a medical exemption by a physician licensed to practice medicine in California pursuant to Health and Safety Code Sections 120370-120372.
   a. Commencing January 1, 2021, the CDPH standardized medical exemption form shall be the only documentation of a medical exemption that CWCS shall accept.
   b. On and after July 1, 2021, CWCS shall not unconditionally admit or readmit, or admit or advance any student to 7th grade, unless the student has been fully immunized or files a CDPH standardized medical exemption form as required by law.
   c. Medical exemptions remain valid until the earliest of: 1) the child’s enrollment in the  next grade span, as defined below; 2) the expiration date specified in a temporary medical exemption, which shall not exceed one year; or 3) revocation of the exemption pursuant to Health and Safety Code Section
   120372.
2. Students who are enrolled in a home-based private school or independent study program and do not receive any classroom-based instruction.
   a. A student who has not received all of the required immunizations will not be
   eligible to attend classes at a Charter School resource center unless the student is
   otherwise exempt under #1 or #3.
3. Students who, prior to January 1, 2016, submitted a letter or affidavit on file at a private or public elementary or secondary school in California stating beliefs opposed to immunization, and who provides said letter or affidavit to CWCS, shall be allowed to enroll at CWCS without being fully immunized until the student enrolls in the next grade span, as defined below, pursuant to Health and Safety Code Section 120335(g).

“Grade span” means each of the following:
1. Birth to Preschool.
2. Kindergarten and grades 1 to 6, inclusive, including transitional kindergarten.
3. Grades 7 to 12, inclusive.

This Policy does not prohibit a student who qualifies for an individualized education program (“IEP”), pursuant to federal law and Education Code Section 56026, from accessing any special education and related services required by the student’s IEP.
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