Preschool in my elementary school........immunization question

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I have a preschool attached to the elementary school that I work for.....This is my first year as the school nurse and I am the first nurse to request immunization records for the preschool that is attached to the elementary school. I am assuming they need to be up to date on their shots as well.....seeing as to how they are in the same building and sharing the same halls as the k-6 classes. Am I right here? I am in Indiana.

My state has immunization requirements for ages 3-5 ..... I just need to know if these are REQUIRED to be enforced in the preschools.

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Also in Indiana. When I took over last year I was told that "we don't worry about the preschool" in regards to immunization. I believe that the code addresses it and we DO need to worry about it so this year I have included them.

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Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

if they are housed in your building and under your care then you should be concerned with the status of their immunizations unless you can find state statute stating otherwise.

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Specializes in Pediatrics Retired.

you only need to enforce immunization requirements if the facility is located in Indiana...:yes:

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Specializes in School Nursing, Public Health, Home Care.

The only way I can imagine that "we don't worry" thing is if the preschool is run by an outside agency and rents space from your school. If it's part of your school system, then it's part of your school system. We have 4K Charter School in one of our buildings but it's still run by the school district and therefore immunizations are still our concern.

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Specializes in Peds, Oncology.

I'm in Indiana and I have PreK-5. In our district we gather and require compliance for immunizations.

There are age 3-5 requirements in Indiana....

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We have PK in my building so I am responsible for those kids and their immunizations. At another local Elementary school though they have an outside group who runs the PK program (even though it's housed in their building) and in that district the outside group, not the school district is responsible for the immunization checks/documentation.

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Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.
The only way I can imagine that "we don't worry" thing is if the preschool is run by an outside agency and rents space from your school. If it's part of your school system, then it's part of your school system. We have 4K Charter School in one of our buildings but it's still run by the school district and therefore immunizations are still our concern.

i had a similar situation in a school where i worked. And yes - i did not concern myself with their compliances. They rented the space they were a separate entity from the school and i made it crystal clear when the staff would come down to me from time to time to have me look at one of their students that i was doing it as more of a courtesy and they really shouldn't use me in such capacity.

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Specializes in School nursing.

We have a daycare (for staff) at my school and it is run by the school, so it's part of our system. There are state standards in place for that population that we follow (minimum requirements for 24 months, under that according to age).

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I did get a response from the state (Indiana) and apparently with the preschoolers not being "enrolled" in my school...I can only recommend that they have their immunizations.....I can not require it, even if they are housed in the public elementary school. They did say that if they were enrolled and a part of the school system...then I could require that they have them. Hope this helps someone somewhere out there :)

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