Please read this important message below from Zach Wichmann, Director of Government Relations at Catholic Conference of Illinois:

A couple of issues have arisen as common questions in the last couple of months, so I want to provide some general information and ask that you share it with your schools.

1)  I have been asked about the Pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine boosters.  Last September, the Illinois Department of Public Health issued new rules that require a tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussiss booster (T-dap) for any student entering 6th grade.  Any students entering grades 7 through 12 that have not received the T-dap must also do so.  This requirement will begin to be enforced in this 2012-13 school year.  The exact language in the rules is as follows:

     5) Beginning with school year 2011-12, any child entering sixth grade shall show proof (see Section 665.250(b) of receiving one dose of Tdap (defined as tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis) vaccine regardless of the interval since the last DTaP, DT or Td does.
     6) Students entering grades seven through 12 who have not already received Tdap are required to receive 1 Tdap dose regardless of the interval since last DTaP, DT or Td dose.

2)  Attendance days.  Senate Bill 2850 was signed by Gov. Pat Quinn on July 5, 2012.  The bill has an effective date of June 30, 2013 and repeals Section 18-8.05 (F)(2)(b) of the School Code, which allows the first and last day of student attendance to be less than 5 instructional hours.  So, beginning with the 2013-14 school year calendar (next year) for attendance calculation purposes, days of attendance by pupils, including the first and last day of pupil attendance, shall be counted only for sessions of not less than five clock hours of school.  This is a change: I know many of our schools schedule abbreviated first and last days, but if they want to count those days as attendance days beginning next year, they will have to be longer than five clock hours.