More than 10,000 students sought exemptions from required vaccinations last year in Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe county schools, giving South Florida some of the highest noncompliance rates in the state.

And the percentage of South Florida children not having their shots when school starts is growing, according to Florida Department of Health records. Those records count only kindergartners and seventh graders, meaning the overall numbers are certainly higher.

With South Florida public schools starting Monday, local health officials say they hope things are going better this year but admit they have no way to know.

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