Printabel PDF from the Wisconsin DPI on Immunization Requirements and Recommendations

Date:  May 25, 2023  
To:  Wisconsin School Administrators, School Nurses, and School Immunization Compliance  Managers  
Cc:  Local Health Departments and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction  
From:  Stephanie Schauer, Ph.D. Immunization Program Manager  
Re:  Student Immunization Law Information, Fall 2023  

Enclosed please find the materials Wisconsin schools need to assess, ensure, and report student compliance with the Wisconsin Student Immunization Law. You are receiving this mailing because you are registered as a school with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI), but you do not have an email address on file with DPI.  

 We thank you for your partnership with assessing and ensuring compliance with the Wisconsin student immunization law. You are integral partners in ensuring schools remain healthy environments for learning. As you plan for another school year, we wanted to make you aware of a few items regarding school immunization compliance for the upcoming 2022-2023 school year.  

• The school booklet materials are also available online. 

• The School Report to Local Health Departments will be submitted electronically. If your school does NOT have access to the internet, a paper report must be sent to your LHD. The reports are in the booklet.  This year we will continue to utilize an online process for schools to report to the local health departments and the state.  

School Report to Local Health Department PDF version  

Note that the REDCap survey cannot be completed using Internet Explorer. Please use Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge to complete the survey.    

Either report will satisfy the reporting required of every school by Wisconsin law (Wis. Admin. Code ch. 144:)  to submit the report to the local health department by the deadline (the 40th school day). It will not be necessary to send a separate paper copy of the form to the local health department.  

School compliance results from the previous school year are available online. Schools and districts should review their compliance results from the previous school year using the links below. Public school districts and private schools with less than 99.00% of students in compliance during the previous school year are required to exclude noncompliant students during this coming school year.  

 Public School District Compliance with the Wisconsin Student Immunization Law PDF  

• A webinar will be held August 21, 2023 from 9:00-10:30 am for school personnel on submitting the school report. DHS and the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) will host a webinar to discuss these changes and the process in more detail. The webinar will be recorded and archived on our website for viewing. The link for the webinar will be sent out closer to the date.      

We thank you for your continued efforts to ensure all school children in Wisconsin are protected against vaccine-preventable diseases. We look forward to a continued partnership with you.  

Please let DPI know if you would like to be included in their email distribution list by contacting louise.wilson@dpi.wi.gov.  

If you have questions, please contact your local health department or your regional immunization representative:  Local health departments

• Eau Claire Shayna Nickell  
  608-692-3541
  Shayna.Nickell@dhs.wi.gov 
• Green Bay Susan Nelson
  920-448-5231  
  SusanL.Nelson@wi.gov 
• Madison Wilmot Valhmu
  608-266-0008
  Wilmot.Valhmu@wi.gov 
• Milwaukee Monica Thakur
  414-227-3995    
  Monica.Thakur@wi.gov
• Rhinelander Christie Larmie
  715-365-2709
  Christie.Larmie@dhs.wi.gov

WISCONSIN STATUTES CHAPTER 252 COMMUNICABLE DISEASES  

252.04 Immunization program.

• The department shall carry out a statewide immunization program to eliminate mumps, measles, rubella (German measles), diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), poliomyelitis and other diseases that the department specifies by rule, and to protect against tetanus. Any person who immunizes an individual under this section shall maintain records identifying the manufacturer and lot number of the vaccine used, the date of immunization and the name and title of the person who immunized the individual. These records shall be available to the individual or, if the individual is a minor, to his or her parent, guardian or legal custodian upon request.  
•  Any student admitted to any elementary, middle, junior, or senior high school or into any child care center or nursery school shall, within 30 school days after the date on which the student is admitted, present written evidence to the school, child care center, or nursery school of having completed the first immunization for each vaccine required for the student’s grade and being on schedule for the remainder of the basic and recall (booster) immunization series for mumps, measles, rubella (German measles), diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), poliomyelitis, tetanus, and other diseases that the department specifies by rule or shall present a written waiver under sub. (3).    
• The immunization requirement is waived if the student, if an adult, or the student’s parent, guardian, or legal custodian submits a written statement to the school, child care center, or nursery school objecting to the immunization for reasons of health, religion, or personal conviction. At the time any school, child care center, or nursery school notifies a student, parent, guardian, or legal custodian of the immunization requirements, it shall inform the person in writing of the person’s right to a waiver under this subsection.  
• The student, if an adult, or the student’s parent, guardian, or legal custodian shall keep the school, child care center, or nursery school informed of the student’s compliance with the immunization schedule.    
  • (a) By the 15th and the 25th school day after the date on which the student is admitted to a school, child care center, or nursery school, the school, child care center, or nursery school shall notify in writing any adult student or the parent, guardian, or legal custodian of any minor student who has not met the immunization or waiver requirements of this section. The notices shall cite the terms of those requirements and shall state that court action and forfeiture penalty could result due to noncompliance. The notices shall also explain the reasons for the immunization requirements and include information on how and where to obtain the required immunizations.          
  • (b) A school, child care center, or nursery school may exclude from the school, child care center, or nursery school any student who fails to satisfy the requirements of sub. (2). 
    • Beginning on July 1, 1993, if the department determines that fewer than 98% of the students in a child care center, nursery school, or school district who are subject to the requirements of sub. (2) have complied with sub. (2), the child care center or nursery school shall exclude any child who fails to satisfy the requirements of sub. (2) and the school district shall exclude any student enrolled in grades kindergarten to 6 who fails to satisfy the requirements of sub. (2).                
    • Beginning on July 1, 1995, if the department determines that fewer than 99% of the students in a child care center, nursery school, or school district who are subject to the requirements of sub. (2) have complied with sub. (2), the child care center or nursery school shall exclude any child who fails to satisfy the requirements of sub. (2) and the school district shall exclude any student enrolled in grades kindergarten to 6 who fails to satisfy the requirements of sub. (2).    
    • No student may be excluded from public school under this paragraph for more than 10 consecutive school days unless, prior to the 11th consecutive school day of exclusion, the school board provides the student and the student’s parent, guardian or legal custodian with an additional notice, a hearing and the opportunity to appeal the exclusion, as provided under s. 120.13 (1) (c) 3.    
• The school, child care center, or nursery school shall notify the district attorney of the county in which the student resides of any minor student who fails to present written evidence of completed immunizations or a written waiver under sub. (3) within 60 school days after being admitted to the school, child care center, or nursery school. The district attorney shall petition the court exercising jurisdiction under chs. 48 and 938 for an order directing that the student be in compliance with the requirements of this section. If the court grants the petition, the court may specify the date by which a written waiver shall be submitted under sub. (3) or may specify the terms of the immunization schedule. The court may require an adult student or the parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a minor student who refuses to submit a written waiver by the specified date or meet the terms of the immunization schedule to forfeit not more than $25 per day of violation.    
• If an emergency arises, consisting of a substantial outbreak as determined by the department by rule of one of the diseases specified in sub. (2) at a school or in the municipality in which the school is located, the department may order the school to exclude students who are not immunized until the outbreak subsides.  
•  The department shall provide the vaccines without charge, if federal or state funds are available for the vaccines, upon request of a school district or a local health department. The department shall provide the necessary professional consultant services to carry out an immunization program, under the requirements of sub. (9), in the jurisdiction of the requesting local health department. Persons immunized may not be charged for vaccines furnished by the department.    
  • An immunization program under sub. (8) shall be supervised by a physician, selected by the school district or local health department, who shall issue written orders for the administration of immunizations that are in accordance with written protocols issued by the department.          
  • If the physician under par. (a) is not an employee of the county, city, village or school district, receives no compensation for his or her services under par. (a) and acts under par. (a) in accordance with written protocols issued by the department, he or she is a state agent of the department for the purposes of ss. 165.25 (6), 893.82 (3) and 895.46.          
  • The department may disapprove the selection made under par. (a) or may require the removal of a physician selected.  
• The department shall, by rule, prescribe the mechanisms for implementing and monitoring compliance with this section. The department shall prescribe, by rule, the form that any person immunizing a student shall provide to the student under sub. (1).  
• Annually, by July 1, the department shall submit a report to the legislature under s.13.172(3) on the success of the statewide immunization program under this section. History: 1993 a. 27 ss. 181, 470; 1995 a. 32, 77, 222; 2009 a. 185. Published: July 30, 1975 Amended: May 20, 1980, April 26, 1982, May 16, 1988, May 3, 1990, May 1, 1992, April    16, 1996, June 1997, May 2001, August 2003, February 2008 

Wisconsin Student Immunization Law Timeline: Actions Required of Schools

Footnotes

• Schools should send the First Legal Notice by the 15th school day to parents of students who are behind schedule or have no record on file. The first notice should include the 30th school day deadline date inserted in the first paragraph in the space provided. The signature line should be completed with the "date sent" filled in. A blank Student Immunization Record should be attached so the parent can return the required information.
• The Second Legal Notice should be sent to students who remain noncompliant after the first notice. The second notice should be sent by the 25th school day and should include the same information as the first notice with a new "date sent" filled in on the signature line.  
• The Notice of Exclusion should be sent if your school chooses to exclude the noncompliant student or if your school is required to exclude noncompliant students because the compliance level of your school/school district was less than 99% during the previous school year. The exclusion date would be the 31st school day from the beginning of admission to school, and that date should be inserted on the Notice of Exclusion.
• Noncompliant students include students who are behind schedule or have no record and have no waiver on file. Noncompliant students should be recorded on the Noncompliance Roster and should be reassessed next year.