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SYRACUSE, NY – Parents in central New York who refused to vaccinate their children for religious reasons are soon to make a crucial decision that will determine whether their children will stay at school next month.
A new law passed in June following the country's worst measles epidemic for decades has abolished the religious exemption for children to attend school. Medical exemptions are always allowed. More than 26,000 children throughout the state, including 1,200 in central New York, have benefited from a religious exemption during the 2017-2018 school year.
Children who attend school in September and benefit from religious exemptions must be vaccinated for the first time in the first 14 days of school, in accordance with the new law. During the first 30 days of school, parents must also prove that they have made an appointment for all required follow-up doses.
Students who do not meet these deadlines must be expelled from school, in accordance with the law. The state health department said it would monitor the schools to make sure they are complying. Schools may be fined up to US $ 2,000 for each student allowed to stay in school without meeting the immunization requirements.
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Children enjoying a religious exemption attending a school or day care center during the summer had to receive their first dose of vaccine by June 28th. The law applies to public, private and parochial schools as well as to day care programs.
A family lawyer suing the state about this case has asked a Supreme Court justice in Albany last week to temporarily block the implementation of the new law so that the school will not be interrupted next month for unvaccinated children. It is unclear when the court will make a decision. A previous request for an injunction had been refused.
More than 95 percent of Onondaga County schoolchildren are vaccinated, said Dr. Quoc Nguyen, Medical Director of the County Health Department. State records indicate that about 450 county children enjoy religious exemptions. "Because almost all of our children are compliant, our country has been spared up to here from the measles outbreak," Nguyen said.
However, there are some schools in the county where the percentage of unvaccinated children enjoying a religious exemption is high. More than 68% of the students of the Virgin Mary Academy Mother of God, a Catholic school of Warners, benefited from a religious exemption during the 2017-2018 school year, according to the data. of the state. The state also reported high rates of religious exemptions granted to the Montessori Schools Discovery School of Syracuse (30%) and Baldwinsville Christian Academy (10.75%).
Here are the enrollment data from the Department of Education of these three schools: Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, 168; Montessori Discovery School, age 15; and Baldwinsville Christian Academy, 81.
Nguyen said his department had contacted these schools, but that they had not responded.
The Blessed Virgin Mary and Baldwinsville Christian did not respond to phone calls and emails from Syracuse.com.
Krisi Colton, director of Montessori Discovery, said state data on her school's religious exemption rate was skewed because it did not include three-year-olds.
"The majority of my families are very supportive of the new law," said Colton. Children whose families do not meet deadlines will not be allowed to register, she said.
The Onondaga County Health Department is providing a free vaccine to uninsured children at the Vaccination Clinic open every Wednesday from Wednesday to Wednesday in Basement Room 30 of the Onondaga County Civic Center.
Every year, the clinic sees an increase in the number of children being vaccinated at the clinic in the weeks before and after the opening of the school.
This year, the clinic is expecting even more children because of the new law. Nguyen said the health department had asked some of his retired nurses to help out at the clinic during the back-to-school period.
We want to hear from parents in downtown New York whose children have lost religious exemptions. We would like to know how the new law affects your family and what are your plans for your children's return to school in September. Please contact James T. Mulder at 315-470-2245 or [email protected].
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