Oregon kindergarteners are entering the school year with the lowest vaccination rate on record. Measles has already been detected in Washington County.
The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) reported that 85.6% of kindergarteners completed all required vaccinations in the 2025-2026 school year.
That falls well short of the 95% threshold health officials say is needed for community immunity. Non-medical exemptions hit a record high, with more than one in 10 kindergarteners claiming exemptions statewide.
Oregon's non-medical exemption rate ranks third highest in the nation, behind Idaho and Utah, the Oregon Capital Chronicle reported. The exemption requires one 30-minute online presentation and covers a child's entire school career.
Oregon has recorded 54 confirmed measles cases in 2026, the most since measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000. Four people have been hospitalized.
Fifty of the 54 cases involved individuals with no measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine or unknown vaccination status, according to Your Oregon News.
Measles was detected in Washington County and nine other Oregon counties in the two weeks before Sept. 13, Your Oregon News reported.
In July, the OHA identified Sky Zone Beaverton on S.W. Denney Road as a measles exposure site after a visitor carried the virus there July 18.
"We usually talk about trying to achieve a (vaccine) rate of 95% or greater in the community … We're below that on the statewide level. Many counties are below that," OHA State Health Officer Dr. Dean Sidelinger said Sept. 13 in an interview with Your Oregon News.
Sidelinger said on Sept. 13 that the agency has been working with schools to prepare for possible outbreaks, including plans to exclude unvaccinated students if measles reaches a campus.
Under Oregon law, unvaccinated students exposed to a preventable disease must stay home for at least 21 days.
What BSD families need to know
Beaverton School District requires incoming kindergarteners to submit an Oregon Certificate of Immunization Status before attending school.
Families seeking a non-medical exemption must follow instructions on that form.
Kindergarteners who lack required immunizations or a valid exemption face exclusion starting Nov. 19. All other students face a Feb. 24, 2027, deadline.
BSD's K-12 immunization data, published on individual school websites, shows measles vaccination rates above 97% at the high school level. Aloha High School leads at 98.73%, followed by Sunset (98.20%), Mountainside (98.03%), Westview (98.01%) and Beaverton High (97.93%). Non-medical exemption rates at those schools range from 1.21% to 1.97% for measles.
Those K-12 figures are significantly higher than the statewide kindergarten rate, reflecting that exemptions are concentrated among the youngest students entering the system.
Federal policy adds uncertainty
President Donald Trump signed Executive Order No. 14420 on Aug. 10, directing that the MMR vaccine be split into three separate shots once single-disease versions become available.
The order also directs the Attorney General to challenge state laws that limit religious or medical exemptions, according to Contemporary Pediatrics.
The executive order carries no statutory force, and states retain authority over school vaccine mandates. The Department of Justice could pressure states to loosen exemption requirements, the publication reported.
Nationally, the MMR vaccination rate among kindergartners dropped to 92.4% in the 2025-2026 school year, according to CDC data reported by WGAL. Non-medical exemptions reached a record 4% nationwide, with 42 of 46 reporting states showing increases.
Families can get immunizations through private physicians, clinics or the Washington County Health Department in Beaverton and Hillsboro at 503-846-8851.
