![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/2026-08-20T125444Z_663656699_MT1USATODAY29624595_RTRMADP_3_A-NURSE-HOLDS-A-VILE-OF-THE-MEASLES-MUMPS.jpeg\" "\\"A")
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A nurse holds a vile of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine in this file photo. <\/p>\n
John Meore\/The Journal News<\/p>\n
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Co<\/p>\n
The Fort Worth school district is not included in the state health department\u2019s annual release of school vaccination data<\/a>, leaving the public in the dark about how protected the city\u2019s children are against preventable illnesses like measles.<\/p>\n The data, which were released July 1<\/a>, do not include Fort Worth, the city\u2019s largest school district.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the Fort Worth school district said the district entered the data, but that the final submission step was not completed. Since then, the Department of State Health Services requested an audit of randomly selected Fort Worth campuses, the district said.<\/p>\n \u201cFWISD Health Services completed and submitted the requested audit, and DSHS now has the district\u2019s immunization data on file,\u201d a spokesperson said in an email.<\/p>\n Members of the public can submit a public information request<\/a> for the data, according to the school district. Data from previous years are publicly available online<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dr. David Higgins, a pediatrician and professor at the University of Colorado\u2019s medical school, said he broke the value of vaccination data down into three buckets. First, is \u201cunderstanding at the local level of a school and school districts how susceptible the children are to measles or pertussis or vaccine-preventable diseases like that.\u201d<\/p>\n Bucket two is \u201cidentifying pockets of under vaccination, so that policy and resource allocation can improve those pockets of under vaccination.\u201d<\/p>\n The third bucket, he added, is the bucket of both transparency and accountability and seeing these trends at the school and district level.<\/p>\n Across all Tarrant County schools, almost 93% of kindergartners were vaccinated with the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine in the 2025-26 school year, down from almost 94% the year before<\/a>. Almost 7% of Tarrant County kindergarteners<\/a> had a conscientious exemption to at least one vaccine in the 2025-26 school year, up from 3% five years ago, according to state data. These statistics do not include Fort Worth\u2019s data.<\/p>\n Last year, Texas suffered one of the state\u2019s worst measles outbreaks<\/a> in recent history. The outbreak caused more than 750 cases, and two children died from measles. At least 99 people were hospitalized.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n