California state law requires children receive a course of immunizations to attend school in California. Immunization records must be submitted for all students during registration. (This is true even for distance learning).
Starting January 1, 2021: Medical exemptions can only be issued through the California Immunization Registry – Medical Exemption website (CAIR-ME) by physicians licensed in California. Schools may only accept from parents new medical exemptions that are issued using CAIR-ME.
Instructions to Request A Medical Exemption
For Current Re-Enrolling Students : If immunization records for re-enrolling students are not current, updated, and submitted to the school office by August 4, the student will not be allowed to start the new school year and may be disenrolled. Personal Belief Exemptions are no longer accepted per SB277.
Click here for info on Immunization Requirements and Conditional Schedule
Click here for info on Medical Exemptions
For New Parents/guardians
Immunization records that meet the California state requirement are required as a part of the new enrollment packet. Your enrollment paperwork cannot be finalized until immunization records are received. Immunizations must be completed and proof of same provided to SICS by the deadline indicated on the enrollment packet. A failure to provide immunization records by the date specified on the enrollment packet will result in the enrollment packet being deemed incomplete and the pupil’s offer of admission will be withdrawn and the pupil will lose his/her seat at SICS.
UPDATE for school year 2021-2022 and going forward : RE: Revoked Medical Exemptions
The State of California has recently mandated that pursuant to California law, medical exemptions are revoked if they were issued prior to January 1, 2020 by any physician who has had disciplinary action taken by the Medical Board of California or Osteopathic Medical Board of California. (Health & Safety Code, §120372(d)(4)).
The school is required to review all medical exemptions on file to determine if the following two conditions have been met:
1) the medical exemption was issued before January 1, 2020 and ;
2) the physician who issued the medical exemption has had a disciplinary action taken in any year by the Medical Board of California or Osteopathic Medical Board of California.
You can find out if a physician has been disciplined, by looking up an issuing physician’s name or medical license number on the list of disciplined physicians.
https://eziz.org/assets/docs/shotsforschool/2021MBC_OMBCDisciplinedDoctors.pdf
If an exemption meets both conditions, the exemption will no longer be valid for use at schools starting at the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year. If parents think their child’s medical exemption does not meet both conditions, they can appeal within 30 days of notification (today) of the revocation using the instructions and appeal form.
Vaccination Requirements for New Enrollment and Continued Enrollment
All families are required to be in compliance with SB277 and SB276
They apply to all students who are :
(1) entering TK/Kindergarten for the first time, or
(2) entering 7th Grade, or
(3) transferring from out-of state, or
(4) do not have a Medical Exemption (ME) on file with a California school or
(5) have a previous medical exemption (ME) or personal belief exemption (PBE) but are entering a new grade span (TK/K or 7th grade)
Students who have a ME on file with a California school prior to December 31, 2020 will have to meet the CDPH requirements by the time they are ready to enter the next grade span (either Kindergarten or 7th grade).
If your child is not fully immunized prior to enrollment, CDPH regulations allow for “conditional admission.” What this requires is:
(1) Your child receives at least the first dose of all required vaccines prior to admission;
(2) Your child not be currently due for any doses at the time of admission; and
(3) Your child completes all the remaining doses when they become due in accordance with the official “Conditional Admission Immunization Schedule for Grade K-12.”
Continued attendance after conditional admission is contingent upon documentation of receipt of the remaining required immunizations. If a student is “conditionally admitted” and does not receive the remaining doses when due, the law states that the student must be excluded from attending school.
Full details of the CDPH Immunization Requirements can be found at: www.shotsforschool.org
IMMUNIZATION POLICY FOR SEBASTOPOL INDEPENDENT CHARTER SCHOOL
Sebastopol Charter shall be nonsectarian in its programs, admission policies, employment practices, and all other operations, shall not charge tuition, and shall not discriminate against any person on the basis of ethnicity, national origin, race, gender, disability, or any other characteristic designated in SB777 and as set forth in Section 47605(d) of the Education Code.
