Kelly, a staff member presenting policy revisions, told the Danbury School District Policy Committee on Oct. 20 that the draft revision to Policy 5141.3, "Health assessments and immunizations," reflects recent state law changes and model policy language from CABE (Connecticut Association of Boards of Education).

She said the draft reflects the 2022 statutory change that removed religious exemptions for school-entry vaccinations and noted that medical exemptions remain possible through an application to the state department of public health. "There are no more religious exemptions," she said, adding the district has "very high vaccination rates." She also told the committee that the district's coordinator of nursing services and school nurses are responsible for collecting and verifying health assessments and immunizations.

Committee members raised a number of clarifying points. One member asked whether varicella (chickenpox) is required; the presenter replied the varicella vaccine is "a recommended vaccine. It is not a requirement for entry into kindergarten," and added that in one building "a hundred percent of our students in that building are, have the varicella vaccine." Another member noted an article in the Connecticut Post listing 2024-25 kindergarten immunization rates; the presenter said Park Avenue Elementary's kindergarten rate was 84.8% in that report and that other schools were cited in the mid-90s. She said she would follow up with exact rates and share them with the committee.

The draft includes two procedural choices members debated: (1) whether the policy should state the board shall annually designate a representative to receive immunization reports or phrase it as "the superintendent shall designate," and (2) whether the TB screening language should be embedded in the immunizations policy or left as a separate, adjacent policy. The committee favored keeping "or the superintendent" language (delegation to superintendent/designee) and keeping the TB policy separate but adjacent numerically.

The presenter proposed adding explicit language that vaccination providers upload immunization records to the state Department of Public Health portal to improve verification; she said that is already practice and a requirement. Committee members supported adding that language.

A motion to recommend Policy 5141.3 to the full board for a first read, with the changes discussed (superintendent/designee language, add Department of Public Health portal upload, remove outdated catch-up paragraph), was made by Terry and seconded by Juanita. Committee members voted in favor and the motion carried.

The presenter said she would follow up with committee members by email with the exact vaccination list for kindergarten and the Park Avenue rates from the Connecticut Post, and the committee discussed placing any additional TB regulation language in a separate policy or in regulations accompanying the policy.