Berkeley County School District is committed to helping its families get prepared for the first day of school.
As part of that process, BCSD would like to remind its parents of the following information regarding immunizations/medications for the upcoming school year.
Immunizations
Each year the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) provides the South Carolina Immunization Requirements for Childcare and School.
Immunization requirements are regularly updated by DHEC. The following changes have been made for the 2023-2024 school year for students in third grade, eighth grade, ninth grade and 11th grade – this information is also available on DHEC’s Childcare & School Vaccine Requirements website.
- Eighth grade: one dose of Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis) vaccine on or after the 10th birthday.
- Ninth grade: two doses of varicella. A child with a positive history of the disease is considered immune and is exempt from this requirement.
- 11th grade: three doses of oral and/or inactivated polio vaccine with at least one dose received on or after the fourth birthday.
- Third grade: two doses of hepatitis A vaccine with both doses received on or after the first birthday and separated by at least 6 months.
View full state immunization requirements for childcare 2023-2024 here.
Medications
BCSD would also like to remind its families of the protocol for giving prescription and non-prescription medicines at school:
- In order for a child to be given non-prescription medicines at school, the child’s parent/guardian must sign a permission form. Schools may have special rules for non-prescription medicines and may require parents or guardian to sign additional forms.
- In order for a child to be given a prescription medicine at school, the child’s health care practitioner and the child’s parent or guardian should sign a separate permission form. Because the instructions for some medications require more space than is provided on the form, some health care practitioners may prefer to use a practice specific form.
In both cases, schools may have special rules for prescription medicines and may require parents or guardians to sign additional forms. A responsible adult should deliver the medicine and the permission form to the school. The medicine must be in the original container with the label on it.
New Student Registration
For parents of new students in the district, families were required to fill out a health history questionnaire for nursing services; this form should have been included in the child’s New Student Registration packet. If this information has not been filled out, please do so and provide to your school nurse.
For information, please visit BCSD’s Nursing Services page.