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In a report about the state's medical exemption system, the

Sept. 26, 2018 by Paul Fletcher

In a report about the state's medical exemption system, the San Diego School Board noted that in 2016, nearly 1,900 students received medical exemptions in the state, with the vast majority of those exemptions being for non-medical reasons. Only 8 percent of those exemptions were for immunization.

"This is an extremely bad deal for the students," said the board, which recently voted to provide a free summer education program to about 100 students and staff members in the school. "The students who are already doing better are the ones who are getting the most work done. It's a mess for our students."

In January, the Department of Public Health and Human Services issued an interim report that noted that exemptions for many patients do not meet guidelines that are the most stringent in the country. The report recommended that the state provide a single, effective vaccine exemption for every one of the more than 11 million people who receive immunizations.

In the end, the state opted to provide only a single exemption, but it did not require a physician to make a medical exemption. It also took no steps to prevent or reduce the spread of deadly diseases.

In the summer of 2016, the San Diego School Board reviewed the medical exemption policies of 14 of the state's 50 public schools, and approved an exemption for every child who received a medical exemption from 1997 through 2012. The board also approved exemptions for all of the state's public hospitals.

In August, the board voted to grant an exemption for nearly all of the 15 medical schools that received medical exemptions by the end of the school year. While the school board did not give any reason for the exemption, it did include information on exemptions available through a school's website or by calling a community health center that had medical exemptions, which is not the usual way to obtain medical exemptions.