Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) is holding a free immunization clinic from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on today (June 7) at C.K. McClatchy High School to help parents comply with a daunting new state law affecting thousands of local families.

The new law states that students entering seventh through 12th grades cannot attend school in the fall until their parents turn in shot records showing that they have been vaccinated against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (whooping cough).

In SCUSD alone, the law affects 20,000 high school and middle school students. “This is very serious,” said Superintendent Jonathan Raymond. “We don’t want to turn any students away, and yet the law says without documentation of this critical immunization we cannot allow students in class.”

The state estimates that about half of California students affected by the law have already received the “Tdap” booster. However, parents must bring their child’s shot record to school to be recorded before the start of school in September. So far, only about 10 percent of SCUSD parents have complied with this new policy.

Parents of children currently in grades six through 11 (who will be entering middle or high school in the fall) that have not had the Tdap can bring their children to C.K. McClatchy High School (3066 Freeport Blvd.) from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. today, June 7, for a free inoculation. It is recommended that parents bring their child’s immunization record to the clinic.