Exclusion from School, Due to An Outbreak of Mumps, for Children with disabilities Identified Under Chapter 101 or Section 504 Who Are Unvaccinated or Have No Acceptable Evidence of Immunity

INFORMATIONAL LETTER NO: 65
POLICY CODE: JCLB

TO: Superintendents of Schools, Special Education Directors; CDS Site Directors

FROM: Susan A. Gendron, Commissioner of Education

DATE: December 20, 2007

SUBJECT: Exclusion from School, Due to An Outbreak of Mumps, for Children with disabilities Identified Under Chapter 101 or Section 504 Who Are Unvaccinated or Have No Acceptable Evidence of Immunity

In accordance with school law, all children in grades K-12 must have proof of 2 doses of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination or acceptable evidence of immunity against the disease in order to be present in school. Unvaccinated students will be excluded from school in the event of a mumps outbreak.

Parents do have the option to write a letter requesting that their child be exempt from this law on very specific grounds (religious, philosophical or medical) defined in the law. See 20-A M.R.S.A. §6355. If parents are granted an exemption, the law clearly states that the unvaccinated child will be excluded from school if there is evidence of mumps disease in the school or the child’s community. See 20-A M.R.S.A. §6306. Under such circumstances, the unvaccinated child will be excluded from school until such time as the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) determines it is safe for the child to return to school. However, at a minimum, any child not appropriately vaccinated with MMR vaccine will be excluded from school for eighteen (18) days for mumps (as determined by the Maine Centers for Disease Control Program) from the onset of symptoms of the last identified case. Every new case of mumps in a school triggers a new 18-day exclusion.

For children who are identified with disabilities under the Maine Unified Special Education Regulations (MUSER) Chapter 101 or under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and who for religious, philosophical, or medical reasons are unvaccinated or have no acceptable evidence of immunity against the disease, in the event of an outbreak of mumps in a school, the School Administrative Unit (SAU) must as soon as possible either convene an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or Section 504 meeting or obtain agreement from the parent to amend the IEP or 504 plan without a team meeting to discuss and determine what a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) would entail for the child while the child is excluded from school. The team must consult with the school nurse and/or the SAU physician about the individual health circumstances of the child and, as a team, about the child’s educational circumstances (grade level, complexity of IEP, etc.) and consider the options for FAPE (including assistive technology). Any changes to the IEP or 504 plan during the time of exclusion due to an outbreak of mumps would require a Written Notice to be issued to the parents by the SAU. Any special education services provided in the child’s home or a neutral setting must be provided by a certified special education teacher per Chapter 101, Maine Unified Special Education Regulations § X.2.A.(4).

Please contact Susan Parks by e-mail at susan.parks@maine.gov or by telephone at 624-6644 or by fax at 624-6641 with questions about the contents of this memo.