Students in Biloxi Public Schools will have a chance to receive free H1N1 vaccinations next week at individual schools.

Parents were being sent an “H1N1 Toolkit” today that includes a parental consent form that must be signed before vaccinations are conducted. The toolkit also includes a schedule of vaccinations, a Q&A about H1N1 influenza and the vaccine, and a letter from the Mississippi State Department of Health.

Nurses in Biloxi Public Schools will work with representatives of Biloxi Regional Medical Center to administer the vaccines in the district, which has more than 4,800 students.

“We’re hoping that parents choose to have the vaccination administered, and we hope that they sign the forms and have returned to us Monday,” said Registered Nurse Jalena Taylor of Biloxi Public Schools. “The number of confirmed and suspected cases is down considerably, but with these vaccinations we hope to decrease incidents even more.”

Taylor said in May, during the previous school year, the district had as many as 10 to 15 confirmed cases a day among Grades 6 to 12, but the number of confirmed cases has dropped to about five a week districtwide today.

The schedule of next week's vaccinations:

--- Tuesday: Beauvoir, Gorenflo and Jeff Davis Elementary schools, and Michel 6th Grade School.

--- Wednesday: Nichols, North Bay and Popp’s Ferry Elementary schools; Biloxi Junior High School; and Lopez School.

--- Thursday: Biloxi High School.

To see the H1N1 toolkit, which includes the parental consent form, click here.