The school says my child cannot start until the vaccination records arrive

Usually they can start. Missing paperwork is a normal situation that school systems have a procedure for, and the front office is not always the part of the school that knows it.

Provisional enrolment

Most states let a child enrol provisionally while the records are obtained or the doses are caught up. The child attends; you have a defined period to produce the records or begin a catch-up schedule.

This is the specific thing to ask for by name. "We need the records first" is often true as a general statement and wrong as an answer to your situation, and asking about provisional enrolment moves the conversation to the person who administers it.

Records from another country

A record in another language is still a record. Schools generally accept documentation of doses given abroad; what they need is the date and the vaccine, and a translation if it is not in English or Spanish.

Where a record genuinely cannot be obtained, the usual route is a catch-up immunisation schedule arranged with a doctor rather than starting over blindly, and a blood test can sometimes establish immunity without repeating a dose. A community health centre will do this on a sliding scale regardless of insurance or status.

What the school cannot do

A child's right to attend public school does not depend on immigration status, and a school cannot require a Social Security number, ask about your status, or refuse enrolment because of it.

Where the actual rules live

Grace periods, which vaccines are required, and what exemptions exist are decided state by state, so the number of days you have is not something a page like this can tell you. The state education department linked from your state's page on this site is the authority, and the district's own enrolment page usually restates it in plainer language.

If the school still refuses after you have asked about provisional enrolment, ask for the decision in writing and contact the district office. That escalation resolves most of these.