Long Beach : Campus Immunizations

The school district has decided to implement a pilot program in which students at two local high schools, Poly and Jordan, can receive required immunizations on campus.

Students have been getting immunizations at the city Health Department or from private physicians.

The pilot program has been opposed by Christian fundamentalists, who say it will lead to the creation of campus birth control clinics. But Chuck Carpenter, deputy superintendent of instruction, said the plan is “nothing more and nothing less than what it’s stated to be,” a way to give students their immunizations without forcing them to take time off from school.

Students will be immunized against polio, whooping cough, tuberculosis, measles and rubella. The new program is slated to go into effect later this month.