'Lot of Pressure' Helps Popularize Vaccinations

Prince George's County health authorities have quietly moved toward a solution to what was once one of the public school system's most alarming problems: the large number of students who were being barred from school because they had not received state-mandated vaccinations.

John White, spokesman for the Prince George's school system, said a campaign to get kids to clinics for their chickenpox and hepatitis B shots had reduced the number of students who lacked immunizations from more than 2,300 a year ago to 268 as of mid-December, before the winter break.

School officials celebrated the decline then, saying they hoped to take care of the remaining few over the break and this month.

"It's amazing," said Betty Despenza-Green, the school system's chief of student services, who credited the decline to "a lot of pressure" and "nurses being very, very strategic" in their targeting of students who needed the vaccinations. There was a change in the attitude of parents and students as well.

"People didn't think we were taking this seriously and therefore they didn't comply," said Karen Bates, the school system's health services supervisor. "Now they think we are taking this seriously."

The public snapped to attention in November 2007, when R. Owen Johnson Jr. (District 5), then chairman of the school board, called the issue an "educational crisis" and State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey (D) said he would prosecute parents who allowed their children to remain out of compliance, offenses that carry fines of $50 a day or up to 10 days in jail.

In practice, the court did not throw people in jail over the immunizations, but the legal threat briefly gained national news coverage and helped persuade parents in the county to cooperate, school officials said.

"I think certainly that contributed to it," Bates said of the turnaround. "It served to send a message that everyone in the county was connected and collaborative around this issue of immunization. . . . This [school] year we haven't even had to talk about taking those kinds of measures. I think every year it's going to become easier and easier."

Council Stays Close For Annual Retreat

The Prince George's County Council held its annual retreat this week, but the group retreated a little less far than usual.

In recent years, the two-day briefing has been held out of the county, with council members and some staff members staying overnight at a hotel. Past retreats have been in Cambridge and St. Michaels on the Eastern Shore.

This year, however, the nine members decamped to Oxon Hill Manor, where they spent time in seminars on the county's budget, housing, health issues and growth policies. The council heard from paid consultants Calvin Grigsby, a finance expert, and Judy Smith, a communications specialist, as well as their own staff.

It appears the event was scaled back this year in deference to the county's budget shortfall and the general economic downturn.

Nevertheless, the retreat was a "very productive endeavor" for council members, said spokeswoman Karen D. Campbell.

"The feedback and suggestions that are gleaned from the retreat serve as a framework for the council's legislative agenda and assist the council to develop best practices," she wrote in an e-mail.

The council will hold its first legislative session of the new year next week.

Elected Officials Cool To Recall Amendment

A coalition of citizen associations in the Adelphi area are pushing state lawmakers to amend Maryland's constitution to allow for the recall of elected officials by citizens.

Pat Myers, president of the Hillendale Garden/Knollwood Citizens' Association, said the groups started discussing the idea last year, when some members became upset with the spending practices of County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) and wanted to pursue a recall effort.

She said the coalition, which represents at least 500 people and includes the Adelphi Forest Citizens Association, the White Oak Manor Citizens Association and the Holly Hill Estate Citizens Association, were surprised to learn the Maryland constitution does not allow for recall efforts.

"We said, 'What do you mean we can't do that?' " Myers said. "We thought it was a constitutional right."

Del. Barbara A. Frush (D-Prince George's), who attended the meeting, volunteered to spearhead the constitutional amendment effort but soon reported back to the groups that there was little appetite in Annapolis for such a measure. In Maryland, proposed constitutional amendments are put on the ballot for voter approval by the General Assembly.

Myers said members of the group were disappointed: "The feeling was wait, if they're doing their job and they have nothing to fear, why wouldn't they support it?"

Now, she said they are shopping for support in the upcoming legislative session, which begins Wednesday. And, she said, they are educating fellow residents about the issue.

"Nobody seems to even know this exists," she said. "They're shocked."