Tacoma Public Schools families heading into the 2026-27 school year do not need to change anything about their children's immunization plans.

Washington's childhood vaccine requirements remain in effect despite a federal executive order President Donald Trump signed Monday, Aug. 10, calling for scaling back recommended childhood shots and splitting the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine into three separate immunizations. The state Department of Health confirmed the same day that its requirements and guidance will stay the same, informed by recommendations from "trusted medical and public health experts."

States, not the federal government, set vaccination requirements for K-12 students. Washington law requires documentation of immunity against 11 diseases before any child can attend school, preschool or child care. Parents must complete a state-approved Certification of Immunization Status form, available through the state's immunization information system.

The reassurance comes against a troubling backdrop. During the 2025-26 school year, about 90% of Washington kindergartners received their MMR vaccine, well below the 95% threshold researchers say is needed to prevent measles outbreaks. Exemptions from the MMR shot have crept upward almost every year since 2019, reaching 4.5% among kindergartners statewide last school year.

That matters locally.

The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department warned in April that Washington had already recorded 37 measles cases in 2026, with at least three showing no link to travel, suggesting possible undetected community spread. By late July, the statewide total had climbed to 45 confirmed cases across eight counties, nearly four times the 12 cases recorded in all of 2025, according to Seattle's Child.

Washington moved to insulate itself from shifting federal guidance months ago. In September 2025, the state joined California, Oregon and Hawaii in the West Coast Health Alliance, pledging to follow the American Academy of Pediatrics immunization schedule rather than CDC recommendations. Pierce County Executive Ryan Mello backed that effort, saying at the time that "the politicizing of public health makes it harder for doctors to do their jobs, and harder for patients to distinguish good information from bad."

When the CDC reduced the number of routine vaccines it recommends in January 2026, Washington had already adopted the AAP schedule, which calls for a first MMR dose between 12 and 15 months and a second between ages 4 and 6.

Mike Faulk, spokesperson for state Attorney General Nick Brown, said the AG's office plans to review Monday's executive order for Washington-specific impacts but declined to say whether the state might pursue legal action.

Washington law still allows religious and medical exemptions from vaccine requirements. Personal or philosophical exemptions for the MMR vaccine specifically have been barred since 2019. Tacoma Public Schools' vaccinations page, last updated Aug. 4, directs families to the state's immunization requirements for enrollment paperwork.