District health services reports rising immunization compliance but 4,901 students under‑vaccinated

Lejazmia Dye Bates, director of health services, presented the department’s strategic priorities and performance data to the board. She said the department supports 37 district health-staff positions (including 30 school nurses) and outlined a three‑year plan focused on operational excellence, whole-child supports and community partnerships.

Using state and district dashboards, Bates said the district’s kindergarten immunization compliance rate is 78 percent and that, as of Oct. 28, 2025, there are 4,901 students under‑vaccinated (about 22 percent noncompliance). She noted a small religious‑exemption population (under 5 percent) and said district nurses have documented 26,984 health office visits so far this year and 109,309 visits for the 2024–25 school year. Bates also reported 12,764 students screened for hearing and 13,687 for vision over two school years.

Bates described partnerships with Swope Health, Vibrant Health and the Unified Government Health Department and said the district plans mobile immunization clinics, telehealth pilots, multilingual outreach and targeted building-level interventions. Board members asked for clarifications on tracking (staff said vendor dashboards use IP-level access and cannot identify individual students for privacy reasons) and for reporting by building; staff committed to provide drill‑downs and to continue outreach to increase compliance.

No formal board action was taken on the health-services presentation; members expressed appreciation for the work and asked staff to continue producing targeted data and to pursue partnerships to expand access to immunizations and telehealth services.