School Entrance: Age and Immunization Requirement
The entrance age for kindergarten students in the District shall be five (5) years of age on or before September 15 of the current year. The entrance age for first grade students shall be six (6) years of age on or before September 15 of the current year; however, students under six (6) years of age may be admitted to first grade if they meet the conditions approved by the State Department of Education and if they are approved for that placement by the building principal and Superintendent/designee. If a student is six (6) but has not attended an accredited Kindergarten program, a meeting involving the parent and school principal must be held to determine grade level placement. Placement will be subject to the approval of the Superintendent/designee.
The school shall require presentation of a birth certificate or other official record of birth such as a hospital record or county birth record for students who register for kindergarten. A birth certificate also may be required for students enrolling in first grade who have not previously been enrolled in public school.
All students enrolling in the District are required by state law to submit proof of immunizations to the admitting official using an Iowa Department of Public Health certificate of immunization or a provisional certificate, unless a valid certificate of religious or medical exemption has been submitted. Students without proper evidence of immunization or exemption are not entitled to enrollment in a preschool, elementary or secondary school.
A student may be provisionally enrolled if they have received at least one dose of each of the required vaccines, or they are a transfer student from another U.S. school system. In such cases, a provisional certificate must be issued to allow time for immunizations to be administered, not to exceed 60 calendar days. It is the responsibility of the applicant, parent or guardian to ensure the applicant receives all necessary immunizations during the provisional enrollment period and submit a certificate of immunization to the admitting official at the end of the provisional enrollment period. If at the end of the 60 days, the applicant has not completed the required immunizations due to a minimum interval requirement, a new provisional certificate must be submitted to the admitting official.
At the end of a provisional enrollment period, if an enrollee has not submitted a certificate of immunization, the admitting official shall immediately exclude the applicant from the benefits, activities and opportunities of the school until the applicant submits a valid certificate of immunization.
Code of Iowa: Chapter 139A.8 and 282.3
Iowa Administrative Code: 641, Chapter 7
- Approved: 02-14-78
- Reviewed: 02-12-90
- Revised: 03-12-90, 04-05-93, 12-16-96, 01-25-99, 08-08-05, 03-24-08, 02-09-15, 01-27-2020
- Documents: 602.1
Back to Series 600