Schools' whooping cough deadline not as disruptive as feared

The chaos that officials predicted would engulf school front offices across Santa Rosa Thursday never materialized.

Thursday marked the end of the 30-day grace period for seventh- through twelfth-graders in Santa Rosa City Schools to show proof of a pertussis vaccination or be barred from the classroom or school activities, per a new state law. Other districts across Sonoma County and the state face various deadlines depending on when they started school.

The new law went into effect July 1, but Gov. Jerry Brown approved the 30-day grace period to avoid difficulties on the first day of school and to allow educators to make additional contacts to the parents of students.

The day of reckoning was Thursday in Santa Rosa City Schools, Sonoma County's largest school district with approximately 12,000 secondary students.

"There were some kids that needed to be excluded, but not nearly as many as we thought," said Sharon Liddell, superintendent of Santa Rosa City Schools.

Schools and other agencies have been alerting parents to the new regulation since November, with efforts ramping up significantly in the past 30 days with automated calls, letters home and daily bulletin reminders, officials said.

"It's just taken a lot of education, it's a new thing," said Laura Hendrickson, principal at Comstock Middle School where 12 students still had not provided proof of their shot by Thursday morning.

By Thursday afternoon, that number was down to two.

"I think people know," she said. "In a lot of cases, they actually had it and didn't turn it in."

Through Aug. 8, there have been 2,164 cases of whooping cough confirmed in California in 2011, according to state health officials. In Sonoma County, there have been 101 cases reported through Aug. 8 — not including an infant that was hospitalized three weeks ago, said Mark Netherda, interim Sonoma County Public Health Director.

Sonoma County has the second highest per capita rate of whooping cough in the state this year, he said.

"Pertussis remains a problem in California," he said.

At Slater Middle School, 28 students had yet to turn in their paperwork Thursday morning. Those students were called to office one by one and parents were called, according to Principal Jason Lea.

At Maria Carrillo High School, Principal Rand Van Dyke said 35 students had yet to provide the proper paperwork by Thursday but school officials believed the deadline was today, so no students were barred from class Thursday.

Van Dyke said he planned to contact all 35 students personally before the start of school today. The school also sent letters last week and made automated phone calls to just those students who had failed to turn in their paperwork, he said.

The process will unfold across Sonoma County in the coming days as more school districts hit their 30-day deadline.

"From a public health standpoint, it looks like there has been very good compliance," Netherda said. "We wish it was 100 percent, but we are very pleased with what is happening."

Staff writer Kerry Benefield writes an education blog at extracredit.blogs.pressdemocrat.com. She can be reached at 526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.com.