COLUMBUS, Ohio – Bus stops and classrooms are filling up in central Ohio as the new school year begins, accompanied by reminders about vaccinations and traffic safety.
The Columbus City Schools — the state’s largest district — expects to welcome about 51,000 students from kindergarten through 12th-grade on Aug. 20, the first day of the 2014-2015 school year
Among the things students and parents will find new this year: All students will get free breakfast and lunch without the need for an application or proof of income. There are also revamped websites for all individual schools.
Drivers and pedestrians should take extra precautions in congested school zones.
An estimated 13 percent of America’s 55 million school-aged children will walk or bike to school this year and the National Highway Traffic Administration says one-fifth of all children 14 and under who die in motor vehicle crashes are pedestrians. The afternoon hours are particularly dangerous: One-third of those fatalities happen between 3:00 and 7:00 p.m., AAA Ohio spokeswoman Kimberly Schwind said.
The auto club, which has been organizing student safety patrols outside schools since 1920 and boasts more than 562,000 patrollers in 30,000 schools, has some tips for drivers and pedestrians.
In the aftermath of large outbreaks of two diseases in central Ohio – mumps and measles – the state is reminding parents to have children immunized before the school year starts.
Ohio has had 377 confirmed cases of measles this year, the largest outbreak in the U.S. since 1994, and the state’s mumps outbreak stands at 473 cases, the Ohio Department of Health reports.
Unvaccinated children are at increased risk for contracting and spreading diseases like measles, mumps and whooping cough.
The state and the Centers for Disease Control recognize August as National Immunization Awareness Month.
Children who are four to six years old are due for boosters of four vaccines: DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis), chickenpox, MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) and polio.
Preteens and teenagers need Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis), MenACWY (meningococcal conjugate vaccine) and HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccines.
Yearly flu vaccines are recommended for all children 6 months and older.