Spokane schools to get tough about vaccinations, remove children

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — The Spokane school district is getting tough about student vaccines.

School officials told The Spokesman-Review newspaper they planned to start removing unvaccinated children from classrooms starting on Monday.

This is the first time Washington's law to exclude children from school if they can't show proof they have been vaccinated or have a signed waiver will be enforced in the state's second largest school district.

District spokesman Kevin Morrison says the recent measles outbreak across the nation has pushed the district to review its vaccine compliance rate. What they discovered led them to change their process and insist on documentation for every child.

District officials estimate about 922 students are out of compliance.