In the Maryland State Board of Education meeting yesterday, the Board unanimously approved a partial waiver to remove the age-appropriate immunizations requirement for the September 30 enrollment count, which is used to calculate State aid under the foundation program.

Normally, a student is required to both be a bona fide resident of Maryland and have age-appropriate immunizations in order to be counted in the September 30 enrollment count. Due to the pandemic, local school systems requested a waiver of the immunization requirement to avoid a financial penalty against them for foundation funding calculations.

Many parents have been unable to provide the proof of immunization documents needed due to the pandemic and without a waiver, school systems would have been financially penalized if they had students “virtually present” without those documents.

The waiver does not conflict with the Maryland Department of Health’s regulations prohibiting a school from “knowingly admitting a student into school without evidence of age-appropriate immunization.” Those regulations remain in effect and will continue to apply to students who are attending school in person in the school building.

See Partial Waiver of September 30 Child County Regulation.

Stay tuned to Conduit Street for more information.