NEW YORK, NY October 14, 2007 —City education officials say they're gradually whittling down the number of students excluded from schools because they haven't had their immunizations. WNYC's Fred Mogul reports.

Almost all parents manage to comply with state law and get their kids vaccinated, but there are always some who don't. Four years ago, about 30,000 students who weren't immunized were kept out of school. By June of this year, that number was down to 10,000, after concerted efforts to track down parents and provide vaccines in school-based clinics. Either way, that's not a lot, in a district of more than 1 million students, but it's enough to leave other children vulnerable.

Meanwhile, the number of students with religious exemptions –- the only acceptable excuse from vaccines -- has grown slightly. There are about 1,000 of them citywide. School officials say all requests for exemption are scrutinized, but are impossible to challenge if filed properly.

For WNYC, I’m Fred Mogul