Perth Steiner School principal quits as second student develops Measles

Mr Jean-Michel David has resigned from his position as principal of the Perth Waldorf School last week following a possible outbreak of Measles at the school where a second student has been infected. The student has been isolated at home and is not considered as a risk to others, a Health Department spokesperson said.

Mr David stood as a candidate for the 2014 Victorian election on an anti-vaccination platform and specifically laws banning children not immunised from enrolling in kindergartens and childcare.

Steiner Education Australia denies it opposes vaccination saying it is up to parents but Steiner alternative schools are known globally for having far higher rates of unvaccinated children than the general population and are considered at risk of measles outbreaks.

A substantial number of students at the school have not been vaccinated and may have been exposed. The school has a metropolitan-wide catchment making it likely additional cases of measles will occur in Perth.

The school has since accepted the Heath Department's offer to set up a catch-up vaccination clinic at the school.