June 2024 Board of Health Meeting - ISPA Enforcement Update - Elementary School Students Information Report

PREPARED BY: Healthy Schools - Immunization

DATE: 2024-05-27

BACKGROUND

The Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA) R.S.O. 1990, requires all primary and secondary school students in Ontario to be immunized against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, meningococcal, and varicella. Public health units are required under the ISPA to routinely review student immunization records for students in their catchment area to ensure compliance. Parents/legal guardians must report their child’s immunizations to their local health unit. Students may be exempt from immunizations due to medical or non-medical reasons. These students, although not up to date on their immunizations, will have satisfied the ISPA requirements. 

The WECHU assesses compliance with the ISPA and takes a progressive and collaborative enforcement approach. Families of students not in compliance with the ISPA are notified in advance and provided information on actions to avoid a school suspension. A suspension order is issued only if proof of immunization or an exemption is not provided to the WECHU by the date specified. Students with incomplete immunization records or without a valid exemption by the deadline are suspended from school until the required immunization information is reported to the WECHU. 

DISCUSSION

Immunization Compliance and Coverage Rate

As of May 8, 2024, 99.99% of elementary students enrolled in a Windsor and Essex County school are compliant with the Immunization of School Pupils Act for the school year 2023-2024.

Implementation of ISPA in Elementary Schools

For the 2023-2024 school year, student compliance with the ISPA was assessed and enforced for elementary students starting in November 2023 (see table below). Prior to enforcing the ISPA through the suspension process, the WECHU engaged in activities to help families avoid suspension. To help families make informed decisions, get missing immunizations and update records, the WECHU engaged local vaccine providers by sharing updates about ISPA enforcement activities, immunization resources, and vaccine-related best practices. The WECHU hosted student immunization clinics at WECHU offices; clinic promotion was largely shared on social media channels. 

The WECHU also continued to engage with local school boards to plan and implement ISPA enforcement activities. This included regular meetings and sharing updates with school board liaisons and the WECHU’s ISPA Communication Workgroup. Workgroup members consisted of key WECHU staff and school board representatives responsible for managing board-wide communications. Together, workgroup members collaborated to share ISPA-related messages and resources to local school communities. Settlement workers in English and French schools were engaged and provided key information to help families.

After the suspension deadline, the WECHU engaged in key activities to help get suspended students back to school:

• Daily calls to affected families to help troubleshoot.
• Daily communications with school administrators whose schools had affected families.
• Hosting daily walk-in immunization clinics for students to get missing vaccines and update records.
• Media advisories to keep the public aware of enforcement progress.