School and sports forms in Georgia: what your child’s school needs

Which forms does a Georgia school actually ask for?

Two state forms cover school and daycare health requirements, and a third covers school sports:

• Form 3231, Certificate of Immunization. Required for “any childcare facility, pre-kindergarten, Head Start program, nursery, or school”, for all children through grade 12.
• Form 3300, Certificate of Vision, Hearing, Dental and Nutrition Screening. Filed when a child is admitted to a Georgia public school for the first time.
• The GHSA pre-participation physical. Required before any middle or high school try-out, practice or game.

We complete all three at the visit. Bring the form with the parent section filled in, and we hand it back the same day rather than keeping it to sign later.

Form 3231: the immunization certificate

• Who issues it: only a Georgia-licensed physician, advanced practice registered nurse, physician assistant, or a local health department. A printout from another state is not the certificate; it is the evidence we use to create one.
• When it is needed: the first time a child enters a school in Georgia, at any age, at enrollment. It is not re-issued for each school change: the certificate follows the child, and a second school gets a photocopy.
• The expiration date on it: that date is when the next shot is due, or when a medical exemption is reviewed. The certificate stops being valid on that date, and a current one must be submitted within 30 days or the child is excluded from attendance.
• No expiration date: once the certificate is marked complete for 11th grade and higher, nothing more is required for school.

Form 3300: vision, hearing, dental and nutrition

Four separate screenings are required, and all four must be recorded before the form is filed. We do all four at the visit. They can also be split between providers: an optometrist for vision, an audiologist or speech-language pathologist for hearing, a dentist or hygienist for dental, a dietitian for nutrition, or a school nurse for any of them.

• Filed once: when a child first enrolls in a Georgia public school, at any grade, including pre-K. If the child later transfers, the first school forwards the form.
• The screenings must be recent: they have to have been done within the year before the child is first admitted. So a screening from two years ago does not count, and a fresh one belongs at the well visit before enrollment.
• Download the current form. Some district websites still link the 2013 version; the state publishes a newer one.

Moving to Georgia: what to do first

1. Gather every immunization record you have, from each state, practice or country. Bring originals or printouts, not memory.
2. Book a visit with us before school starts. We review what is on the record against Georgia’s requirements and issue Form 3231 the same day.
3. Ask for Form 3300 at the same visit if the child is entering a Georgia public school for the first time.
4. If shots are missing, we schedule the catch-up doses at the shortest intervals allowed, and your child can usually start school while catching up.

A common misunderstanding: there is no separate grace period for new residents. State rules let a school allow up to 90 days for a child without a valid certificate, but only if catch-up shots are already scheduled, and it is the school’s choice. Districts vary: Fulton County Schools gives students transferring from outside a Georgia public school system three months to produce the documents and withdraws the student if they are not received, while Forsyth County Schools asks international students for all documentation before the first day.

Records from another country count the same way: a Georgia provider or health department reviews the written proof, including the vaccine given and the date of each dose, and issues the Georgia certificate from it.

What each stage needs

• Daycare, pre-K and Head Start: the full list, including Hib and pneumococcal, which are only required before the fifth birthday. Certificates for children under 4 always carry an expiration date, so expect to bring the form back.
• Kindergarten: the 4 to 6 year doses, including the second dose of measles, mumps and varicella.
• 6th grade: children already enrolled need their second varicella dose. This one gets missed because it is not a 7th-grade requirement.
• 7th grade, and anyone new to a Georgia school in grades 8 to 12: one dose of Tdap and one of meningococcal (MCV4).
• 11th grade, age 16 and over: a meningococcal booster, unless the first dose was given on or after the 16th birthday.
• College: most Georgia colleges set their own requirements on top of the school list. Bring the college’s form to the visit.

Blood tests showing immunity can take the place of the hepatitis A, hepatitis B, measles, mumps, rubella and varicella requirements, and a provider’s diagnosis or verified history of chickenpox counts for varicella. Being behind schedule does not automatically keep a child out of school: they may attend while completing the series, and a series is never restarted no matter how much time has passed.

Sports: the GHSA physical

• Every year. A physical is good for 12 months from the date of the exam, and it has to be on file at the school before any try-out, practice, voluntary workout or game.
• The April 1 rule. A physical done on or after April 1 is accepted until the school year ends the following spring. That is why we book sports physicals in the spring: an exam in February expires mid-season the next year, and Forsyth County treats a physical that expires during a season as expired before the season starts.
• Only the GHSA form. Schools do not accept other formats for GHSA sports. Bring the current GHSA form; we complete and sign it.
• Two more forms are yours, not ours. The concussion awareness and sudden cardiac arrest awareness forms are signed by the student and a parent each year and returned to the school. No provider signature is needed.
• After a concussion: an athlete removed from play cannot return the same day, and needs clearance before returning. Book a follow-up rather than signing a form at the door.

Exemptions

Georgia allows two, and no others:

• Medical: recorded on Form 3231 itself when a condition means a particular vaccine is contraindicated, and reviewed every year.
• Religious: a notarized Affidavit of Religious Objection to Immunization (Form 2208), filed with the school in place of Form 3231. It does not expire. In an epidemic the state or a county board of health can require immunization anyway and keep unimmunized children out of school.

Lost the records?

Georgia keeps immunizations in the state registry (GRITS). If your child has been seen anywhere in Georgia, we can usually pull the history and build the certificate from it. For records from another state, ask the previous practice for a printout before you move, and bring it to the visit.

Practical notes

• Bring the form with the parent section already filled in, and tell us at booking that a form is due.
• A form usually rides along with a visit your child needs anyway: the yearly well visit covers the school physical, the screenings and, in spring, the sports form.
• Immunization certificates are sent to schools through GRITS, and we give you a copy.
• August is the busiest month of the year for forms. Spring is the quietest.