HOUSTON – As Texas students settle into the new school year, state law says this is the time school districts should be ensuring every child is up to date on their vaccinations or has an approved exemption.
KPRC 2 Reporter Rilwan Balogun found that it doesn’t appear the districts are enforcing immunization rules as intended.
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Under the Texas Administrative Code, all students must be vaccinated according to state requirements or present a valid exemption to attend public or private schools. The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) outlines a 30-day provisional enrollment period for student transfers, experiencing homelessness, students with active duty parent/guardian, children in foster care, or students in the process of completing a vaccine series.
After that 30-day grace period, students who are not compliant are supposed to be excluded from school until they meet the vaccine requirements.
But that’s not always happening.
Some districts have clear enforcement policies on the books. Aldine ISD, for example, has a step-by-step timeline that includes initial and follow-up letters, referrals to clinics, and ultimately, exclusion from school for students who remain non-compliant after multiple warnings. Cy-Fair ISD follows a similar model, reviewing vaccine status every 30 days and excluding students who haven’t gotten necessary doses.
When asked how many students have actually been excluded under these policies, district officials could not provide any numbers.
“That information is not available,” a Cy-Fair ISD spokesperson told Rilwan.
Meanwhile, Houston ISD, the largest district in the state, takes a different approach altogether. A spokesperson confirmed that while the district tracks vaccination status and communicates with families, they are not excluding students from learning based on vaccine status.
“As a public school district, HISD is focused on ensuring all children have access to high-quality instruction every day,” the district spokesperson said. “At this time, the district is not excluding students from learning based on vaccine status.”
Conroe ISD and Klein ISD also emphasize working with families but did not provide enforcement data.
Part of the issue may lie in who’s responsible for making sure schools are enforcing these laws. When KPRC 2 reached out to the Texas Education Agency (TEA), officials referred the question to DSHS. But DSHS said enforcement is the responsibility of individual school districts.
According to Becca Harkleroad, Director of the Texas School Nurses Organization, the lack of oversight is part of the problem.
“There is no enforcement clause. There’s no enforcement mechanism. As we say sometimes there’s no ‘or else,’” Harkleroad said.
School nurses are tasked with tracking immunization records year-round. But with no consequences for non-compliance and state funding tied to student attendance, Harkleroad says many districts are reluctant to send unvaccinated students home.
“You’re going to have a really hard time getting your cash-strapped districts to comply with vaccine laws,” she added. “They need kids in their seats to get paid.”
At the same time, vaccine exemptions in Texas have become easier to obtain. Under House Bill 1586, which took effect on Sept. 1, 2025, parents can now download exemption forms online. Beforehand, parents had to request a specific form from their student’s district.
To some, that’s a win for medical freedom. Carrie Bigford, Outreach Director for Texans for Vaccine Choice, argues that parents should not be forced to vaccinate their children against their will.
“I think if you don’t want a vaccine, you shouldn’t be forced by the government to get a vaccine,” Bigford said. “Especially considering that the vaccine recipient is the sole guarantor of our legal, financial, and physical risk.”
Bigford said her group has grown significantly over the past decade, lobbying at local and state levels for what she calls “medical liberty rights.”
For parents like Shimira Munoz, the lack of enforcement and transparency is troubling.
Munoz, a mother of four in Klein ISD, says she wants to know how many students at her children’s school are unvaccinated.
“We at least need to know,” she said. “We’re sending our kids to school with the understanding that everyone is getting vaccinated...if that’s not the case, I think it is our right to know.”
Munoz has firsthand experience with both vaccine safety and public health. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, she and her husband pulled their children from school and homeschooled them until vaccines were available.
She’s also a mother of twin boys, one of whom is autistic, one who is not. Both were vaccinated on the same schedule.
“We can’t say it’s the vaccines,” Munoz said. “If one of them got autism, why didn’t the other?”
She says the repeated effort to blame vaccines for autism is not only misinformed, it’s a distraction from meaningful support and science.
Munoz worries that if vaccine compliance continues to slip, the broader community will suffer.
“Hearing that we may get to a point where we do not have herd immunity is extremely problematic,” she said. “Because then we’re not safe.”
She’s concerned not just for her children, but for more vulnerable family members, like her niece, who is just starting kindergarten.
“We don’t live in a bubble,” Munoz added. “If we vaccinate our children and they end up getting sick because of the choices other families make, it pulls us out of work. It pulls our kids out of school.”
When asked who should be in charge of enforcement, Munoz said it’s a shared responsibility.
“TEA should have a mandate. Each district should have a policy. Everyone has a role.”
But for now, it seems no single entity is holding schools accountable.
As Harkleroad puts it, enforcement should be simple.
“Once that 30-day provisional enrollment is up, you either have a shot record or you’re out of school. That’s what should happen.”
School District Statements on Vaccine Enforcement:
ALIDINE ISD
Aldine Independent School District follows all Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) requirements for student immunizations as outlined in the Texas Administrative Code, Title 25, Part 1, Chapter 97, Subchapter B. The district’s enforcement process ensures compliance while supporting families through communication, access to resources, and adherence to state law.
1. Vaccination Requirements Upon Enrollment
- New Students to the District: Students enrolling in Aldine ISD for the first time must be fully vaccinated or as up to date as medically feasible for their age and vaccination schedule. This includes providing valid documentation of immunizations at the time of enrollment.
- Students Transferring from Other Texas Schools: In accordance with Texas DSHS rules, students transferring from another Texas public or private school who do not have a complete immunization record may be granted provisional enrollment, allowing them to attend school for up to 30 days while awaiting records or completing required doses.
2. Follow-Up and Enforcement Procedures
The district has a structured process to monitor compliance and assist families:
- Student Identification: Campus nurses use the district’s Electronic Health Record (EHR) system to run reports identifying students who are delinquent or provisionally enrolled for immunizations.
- Week 2 After Enrollment: An initial notification letter is sent to the parent/guardian of any student who is non-compliant or provisionally enrolled. This letter explains the requirements and includes a list of community providers where vaccines can be obtained.
- Week 4 After Enrollment: A second notification is sent if the student remains non-compliant. This notice reiterates the importance of immunization compliance and again provides resource information.
- Final 2-Week Extension: After the 4-week warning, if the student is still out of compliance, the student is excluded from attending school until the required documentation is submitted.
- Day 30 (End of Provisional Period):
- If immunization records are still not submitted or if the student is not medically up to date, the parent is issued a 2-week warning notice explaining that the student will not be permitted to attend school if records are not received within the extended time period.
3. Additional Measures and Supports
- School-Based Clinic Referrals: To increase immunization compliance, many students are referred to the district’s school-based health clinic, which provides access to required vaccines at no cost or low cost to families.
- Community Partnerships: Aldine ISD partners with a number of community health organizations and local health departments to bring mobile immunization events and vaccine clinics when available directly to campuses throughout the school year. These efforts help ensure families have convenient access to required vaccinations.
CONROE ISD
Conroe ISD follows the immunization guidelines established by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) for student enrollment. These requirements are based on the Texas Administrative Code (TAC), Title 25, Health Services, §§97.61-97.72, which grants DSHS the authority to set immunization standards under the Texas Education Code, Chapter 38. Our school nurses collaborate with families of students who may not initially meet the DSHS 2025-2026 Texas Minimum State Vaccine Requirements upon enrollment.
CY-FAIR ISD
As stated in the CFISD Student Handbook:
A school nurse or school administrator shall review the immunization status of a provisionally enrolled student every 30 days to ensure continued compliance in completing the required doses of vaccination. If, at the end of the 30-day period, a student has not received a subsequent dose of vaccine, the student is not in compliance and the school shall exclude the student from school attendance until the required dose is administered. Additional guidelines for provisional enrollment of students transferring from one Texas public or private school to another, students who are dependents of active-duty military, and students who are homeless can be found in the Texas Administrative Code, Title 25 Health Services, Sections 97.66 and 97.69.
HISD
“HISD actively tracks all students’ vaccination status. Ongoing communication and targeted outreach are regularly provided to families with a student(s) in need of vaccination with a list of available vaccine resources in the community.
As a public school district, HISD is focused on ensuring all children have access to high-quality instruction every day. At this time, the District is not excluding students from learning based on vaccine status.”