Just three children returned to the Santa Monica High School Infant Toddler Center when it reopened Friday following a nearly weeklong closure due to a measles outbreak.
Normally the day care center typically cares for 26 children. It was shut down Monday after a 1-year-old child too young to be vaccinated who attends the center came down with the virus.
"I feel terrible for the small children in that program," parent Jill Sharaf said.
The Los Angeles Department of Public Health recommended that 14 infants stay home for 21 days, while staff and families returning to the day care center must have documented proof they are immune, a Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District spokesperson said. A blood test is required or proof of two MMR immunizations.
The day care center serves school staff, community members and three teen parents who attend the high school.
School officials expect more children to return to the Infant Toddler Center as families start to get their immunization records in order. But the measles scare has prompted conversations in families about public health, parents said.
"I'm a pretty progressive thinker. I'd love to not immunize my daughters," Sharaf said. But "we have a responsibility to the people around us."
"It's just kind of weird. You wouldn't expect it to be in your school," said high school student Madison Garrett.
The baby's case was the second at the school. A high school coach was diagnosed with measles in January, but school was kept open after officials determined students were at low risk for contracting the highly infections virus.
