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Immunization Requirements for Faith-Based Preschools

  • 1.  Immunization Requirements for Faith-Based Preschools

    Posted 02-17-2020 11:22 AM
    Does your program accept children without immunizations? I have had several requests for exemption from Immunization requirements, requesting a religious exemption. I was wondering how other faith-based preschools handle this.

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    Angela Perdue
    Director
    Preschool at Hillsdale Church
    Advance NC
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  • 2.  RE: Immunization Requirements for Faith-Based Preschools

    Posted 02-18-2020 12:30 AM

    Hello Angela,
    Im currently a director of a Faith based school and we except families without immunizations. With the rights to exclude them if any outbreak occurs. 


    Cassie Morwood  



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    Cassandra Morwood
    Mesa AZ
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  • 3.  RE: Immunization Requirements for Faith-Based Preschools

    Posted 02-18-2020 04:53 AM
    In Ct there is a huge debate going on. All schools...ECE, Public and Private need either a Dr's form or Religious exemption form in order to enroll a child that has not been immunized. The debate is over the religious exemption form. Both forms are provided by the State and religious one needs to be notarized. We shall see how this turns out.

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    Karin King
    Education Consultant
    Trumbull CT
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  • 4.  RE: Immunization Requirements for Faith-Based Preschools

    Posted 02-18-2020 06:58 AM
    Indiana allows us to accept children without immunizations for religious reasons.  The parents have to sign a statement saying that they do not participate in immunizations for religious reasons.  We are permitted to exclude that child from care if there was an outbreak of an infectious disease for his or her safety.

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    Elizabeth Weller
    Director
    Park Place Children's Center
    Anderson IN
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  • 5.  RE: Immunization Requirements for Faith-Based Preschools

    Posted 02-18-2020 07:37 AM
    Protecting life is a Jewish value, so as a Jewish school with Jewish values, we do not accept religious exemptions.

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    Sheri Brown
    Director
    Tikvat Israel ECC
    Rockville MD
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  • 6.  RE: Immunization Requirements for Faith-Based Preschools

    Posted 02-19-2020 01:49 PM
    We too are a Jewish school and of course value life as well. We DO accept exemptions. It is a Torah commandment to guard one's health (Berachot 32b). Guarding one's health means not doing anything to harm one's-self.  Therefore one who believes vaccines are harmful has a 100% valid reason to use a religious exemption form according to Torah and Judaism. Just presenting a different point of view.

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    Yuliya Kikirov
    Teacher
    Torah Day School of Phoenix
    Phoenix AZ
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  • 7.  RE: Immunization Requirements for Faith-Based Preschools

    Posted 02-19-2020 02:02 PM
    Interesting. I have never heard of this in Judaism. It sounds like a way to just avoid vaccinations when there is no medical reason involved. It would seem that the interpretation given to "guarding your health" would mean you would do everything possible to avoid putting your child in harm's way for illness as well as taking care of other people's children who may be harmed by the presence of children who are not immunized.

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    Nora Krieger, PhD
    Associate Professor Emerita/Past Chair NJEEPRE
    Bloomfield College/NJ Educators Exploring the Practices of Reggio Emilia
    Highland Park, NJ
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  • 8.  RE: Immunization Requirements for Faith-Based Preschools

    Posted 02-19-2020 02:31 PM
    Nora Jane, This is indeed our (synagogue's and most other synagogues') take. Educators and non-medical personnel do not decide matters of health. We have doctors for that. My personal belief is not science. Only science is science. We require all without MEDICAL exemptions to be vaccinated.

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    Sheri Brown
    Director
    Tikvat Israel ECC
    Rockville MD
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  • 9.  RE: Immunization Requirements for Faith-Based Preschools

    Posted 02-19-2020 02:46 PM
    Interesting article (2015) re: ADA and vaccines...https://disabilitylawco.org/resources/ability-law-blog/ada-fact-sheet-risk-measles-schools/03-23-2015

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    Karin King
    Education Consultant
    Trumbull CT
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  • 10.  RE: Immunization Requirements for Faith-Based Preschools

    Posted 02-20-2020 08:43 AM
    To Sheri and Nora Jane...since the can of worms called vaccinations is already open here...and the question about religious exemptions is under attack in many states right now...I would just throw this into the mix...parents who choose not to vaccinate their children do not do so as an irresponsible act, they do so because they are concerned about the health of their child.  And yes, that has a strong basis in Judaism along with every other religion, so religious exemption, or conscientious exemption, are very applicable.  It is very true that only science is science...but the responsible science about the long-term effects of the number, type and preservatives used in vaccinations has not been done in the US.  Other countries are starting to do that research and the results are concerning to say the least.  Like people are realizing, what the media tells us is not always the whole story, and pharmaceutical companies are regularly being shown to have made profit over people moves (think opioid crisis), and the vaccination industry in the US is not immune from that practice unfortunately.  This is not an either-or scenario, which is what the media and people screaming at parents who are making an unpopular decision is trying to make it look like. And no, I am not a conspiracy theorist!  I would just issue a plea that you work with those parents from a place of compassion rather than judgement and derision.

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    Joanie Calem
    Music and Inclusion Specialist
    Sing Along
    Columbus, OH
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  • 11.  RE: Immunization Requirements for Faith-Based Preschools

    Posted 02-20-2020 09:01 AM
    I agree that parents who believe immunizations are not right for their children are coming from a place of honest concern and love for their children. However, we will continue to defer to the medical community about what the best science tells us and use that consensus as a basis for school policy. If the scientific community changes its recommendations, we will incorporate the change(s) into our policy.

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    Sheri Brown
    Director
    Tikvat Israel ECC
    Rockville MD
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  • 12.  RE: Immunization Requirements for Faith-Based Preschools

    Posted 02-21-2020 08:40 PM
    I'm with you Joanie. Many of the families who object to vaccination are doing so out of the belief that the pharmaceutical industry is not to be trusted. They have reasons to believe that. (Along with your list, remember when baby aspirin was the drug of choice for babies - we know better now). I'm 81, old enough to remember polio outbreaks leaving people disabled for life, mumps causing sterility in male children, measles destroying vision, whooping cough and scarlet fever closing down schools, and more. My own conviction, that vaccination is the best public health tool we currently have to lessons the likelihood of epidemics sweeping up our children, is based on my experiences. BUT - I also know that the families I work with who will not vaccinate their children are acting from a place of legitimate concern for their children and understandable distrust of the pharmaceutical industry. Attacking them as "anti-science", ignorant, superstitious, "religious nuts", etc. ends any chance of dialog or of building understanding of the public health dangers of not vaccinating.  In California both public and private programs are not allowed to enroll children who have not been vaccinated. The result is children not going to school at all. Surely we would be in a better position to protect children if we worked with these families as intelligent, caring people rather than making outcasts of them and their children.

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    [Julie] [Olsen Edwards]
    Soquel CA
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  • 13.  RE: Immunization Requirements for Faith-Based Preschools

    Posted 02-21-2020 08:51 PM
    I am not calling anti-vax people nuts, etc. but they are putting other children's health at risk, including any parent who is pregnant if that unvaccinated child comes down with some of the childhood diseases that are now totally preventable. I am not 81 but I am in my mid-70s and know that parents today do not have to worry as they did in past times that their children will come down with a preventable disease, develop complications, and possibly die.

    Most vaccines today do not have the preservatives that someone referred to in an earlier post. Research has shown that vaccines do not cause autism. And, in fact, a better understanding of autism is coming out of scientific studies of the condition.

    I do not think these families do not care about their children. They just have developed some irrational fears that are guiding their reactions to the idea of vaccinations.

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    Nora Krieger, PhD
    Associate Professor Emerita/Past Chair NJEEPRE
    Bloomfield College/NJ Educators Exploring the Practices of Reggio Emilia
    Highland Park, NJ
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  • 14.  RE: Immunization Requirements for Faith-Based Preschools

    Posted 02-18-2020 09:24 AM
    We do not accept children unless they have all their immunizations, for their safety and the safety of the rest of us.

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    Paula Hance
    director
    Zion Early Childhood Center
    Hopkins MN
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  • 15.  RE: Immunization Requirements for Faith-Based Preschools

    Posted 02-18-2020 09:38 AM
    When I was the Director of a preschool in NJ, children's parents were able to claim religious exemption by just not starting the immunizations and claiming a religious exemption. This family had immunized their son a few years earlier but for some unknown reason decided not to immunize their daughter. The whole thing was a sham. And it puts others in danger if the child or parent becomes ill with a disease that is totally preventable.

    The only reason a child should be exempted from immunizations is if there are medical reasons, such as a child being "medically fragile". Many NJ legislators are afraid of taking a stand, afraid that those who want religious exemptions to vaccinations will not vote for them. I find this very discouraging.

    If I were still a Director, I would not allow children without vaccinations into the center unless they have a medical reason for exemption.

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    Nora Krieger, PhD
    Associate Professor Emerita/Past Chair NJEEPRE
    Bloomfield College/NJ Educators Exploring the Practices of Reggio Emilia
    Highland Park, NJ
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  • 16.  RE: Immunization Requirements for Faith-Based Preschools

    Posted 02-18-2020 09:51 AM
    Our center does admit students with validated medical or notarized religious exemptions.  Although opinions may vary and be controversial, You may need to look into your own state's law regarding religious exemptions for licensed day care centers, as it may vary state to state.  If such exemptions are allowed by the state I am not sure if you can deny admittance to students with religious exemptions.  So I am not sure here but it may be worth doing some research on in order to be sure you are in compliance with the law and your state's licensing agent.

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    Sharon Culbertson
    Head Teacher/Director
    Trinity Community Preschool
    Woodbridge CT
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  • 17.  RE: Immunization Requirements for Faith-Based Preschools

    Posted 02-18-2020 01:55 PM
    Be aware of what your state laws are regarding immunization exemptions. Some states allow for exemptions and some do not. I am in PA where exemptions are allowed.

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    Marie Conti
    Head of School
    The Wetherill School
    Gladwyne PA
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  • 18.  RE: Immunization Requirements for Faith-Based Preschools

    Posted 02-19-2020 08:20 PM
    Hello!  I am excited to see this discussion about faith based programs.  Our program accepts exemptions on a case by case basis.  We have been in discussions about the religious exemption at the board level as there is nothing in our teachings that allow for them.  Our program encompasses a large variety of faiths so we are sensitive to the topic.  In Michigan, all exemptions must go through counseling at the health department and have a notarized statement signed.
    Hope this helps some!

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    Heidi Friedel
    Grass Lake MI
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  • 19.  RE: Immunization Requirements for Faith-Based Preschools

    Posted 02-20-2020 08:07 PM
      |   view attached
    Exemptions are allowed in the state of Hawai`i for Religious or Medical reasons.  There is a specific form that must be filed.  We have the attached statement in our Parent Handbook.  I asked one of our DHS workers about the policy and she said that, for the most part, the non-immunized or under-immunized student was the one in the most danger of contracting an illness.  My major concern is for the siblings, most of whom are babies, who may "catch" something from one of these exempt children.  I hope that our policy statement helps to prevent that.

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    Catherine Awong
    Director
    Mililani Presbyterian Preschool
    Mililani, HI, USA
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  • 20.  RE: Immunization Requirements for Faith-Based Preschools

    Posted 02-21-2020 11:29 AM
    Hello Angela,
    I am a director of a nursery and preschool center that serves children 6weeks through Pre-K. We are located in California and our state does not allow exemptions for personal belief as of 2016. The only exemption is for medical reasons and last year new policies were passed that tightened up that exemption. Now those exceptions are carefully reviewed and doctors that sign off on it can possibly lose their license to practice if they are giving exemptions and they are not medically needed. These policies are for child care age children through high school.

    Since the new laws, I don't run into those issues...thank God! As a private faith-based program also, I am so glad to have that taken out of my hands and all the politics that go with it.

    Tara Gray
    Director, Cornerstone Children's Center

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    Tara Gray
    Director
    Cornerstone Children's Center
    Berkeley CA
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  • 21.  RE: Immunization Requirements for Faith-Based Preschools

    Posted 02-22-2020 01:43 PM
    I run a faith based preschool/daycare/afterschool. New York recently passed a  law saying a child can only attend with a medical exemption from immunizations. I felt terrible that one of our students could not return and attend the 4 year old program. I can only hope she does not think that is because we did not want her in our program. I do not think that this is a debate that teachers and parents need to have. I can understandd both sides.I think this is an issue of how much control the government should have over what parents and schools can do.

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    Judi Lucks
    Good Ground Christian School
    Pattersonville NY
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