By Stephanie Samuel

Sentinel Staff Writer

As students returned to Prince George's County public schools on Tuesday, they needed more than just fresh packs of paper, pencils, and pens. In the middle of the familiar hustle and bustle of school hallways, children and their parents are busily supplying school officials with records of chicken pox and hepatitis B immunizations.

The panic over shots previously limited to other school systems has now crossed over to the state of Maryland thanks to legislation passed by the General Assembly in 2006 mandating that all students grades 5 to 9 produce immunization records.

The mandate was made law with the backing of the state's health and hygiene and education departments, which both stress the importance of maintaining age appropriate immunizations.

"There are very serious risks," said Bill Reinhard, a spokesman for the state's department of education. Chicken pox is a highly contagious virus that becomes an increasingly larger threat as a person grows older. Hepatitis B is less contagious than chicken pox but can causes serious liver problems including scarring, liver failure and cancer.

The state mandate was originally set to meet parents last September at the start of the 2006-2007 school year, said Reinhard. The deadline was changed to January to give parents more time. However the state could not afford to push back the January deadline he said.

"If we didn't keep this deadline, parents would not take this seriously," Reinhard said.

Reihard's fears may already be realized. As late as mid-December, State Superintendent of Schools Nancy S. Grasmick said that as many as 55,000 state students still had not received the proper immunizations. A week away from the January deadline, Prince George's County Public Schools spokesman John White said that 10,000 of its 134,000 students were still not compliant.

The school system alerted parents as early as July about the immunization requirement, but some parents may have still been caught off guard by the new requirement. While the deadline was non-negotiable, PGCPS made provisions for those without shots to attend school despite the restrictions. On the morning of Jan. 2, allowances were made for students who did not receive the necessary shots, but had an appointment to receive them within the next two weeks. Also three clinics – the Cheverly Health Center, D. Leonard Dyer Regional Health Center and the Laurel Maternal and Child Health Center – have set aside special hours for families to receive free immunizations.

"We're confident that people will take this seriously and do what's necessary to keep their children healthy," White said.