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CA School Vaccine Requirements for Children with
Individualized Education Programs (IEPs)
Everything you need to know!

A Voice for Choice Advocacy (AVFCA) and Educate. Advocate. have been educating, advocating, and litigating on vaccine choice in California for over ten years. AVFCA has worked closely with Educate. Advocate. since SB 277 passed in 2015, which eliminated Personal Belief Exemptions for K-12 school vaccine requirements but allows for children on IEPs to attend school in person and receive support and services regardless of their vaccine status. The following information that Educate. Advocate. has put together provides clarification.

Lately, Educate. Advocate. has noticed an increase in confusion surrounding students on IEPs (Individualized Education Programs) and vaccine exemptions. Some activists and organizations have suggested that IEPs are the last available exemption, causing a surge of families desperate to get their student on an IEP over the course of the last few years. The key matter that is not being relayed to families is that the student must qualify for an IEP. To learn more about eligibility and qualification, please visit Educate. Advocate.'s website and click on the document titled “Special Education Rights and Responsibilities”: [link removed] [[link removed]] . Pay special attention to the eligibility section. Vaccine injury alone is not one of the 14 categories of eligibility, nor does it automatically make a student eligible for an IEP. If a student is not eligible, unfortunately they will not qualify for an IEP. If they are however, this guide will lead you through this process. Educate. Advocate.'s website also gives a listing of advocates and attorneys who can assist you. An IEP is only valid in public school. Some private schools may accept them, but because they are not required to and do not usually provide the services outlined in an IEP, they are not required to allow students who are not fully vaccinated to attend in person.

Even with an IEP in place, some families have faced difficult school districts denying these students in person attendance and enrollment due to vaccine status. Educate. Advocate. has helped families with this issue for over ten years and has all of the information on their website: [link removed] [[link removed]] .

Recently, a lawsuit filed in California state district court (Brave & Free Santa Cruz v. Aragon) attempted to clarify that students on IEPs are exempt from the requirement to be vaccinated to attend public school. Unfortunately, the suit was unsuccessful on grounds that "The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires a plaintiff to exhaust his or her administrative remedies before filing a civil action.” [link removed] [[link removed]] . This essentially means that families must use available remedies, such as filing a compliance complaint with the California Department of Education or due process with the Office of Administrative Hearings before bringing a civil suit. Families Educate. Advocate. has helped have had a 100% success rate filing compliance complaints since SB 277 was passed, barring schools from denying students with IEPs to attend school. Copies of all compliance complaint decisions and OAH rulings are available on Educate. Advocate.'s website.

A compliance complaint is a written complaint to the California Department of Education that the family submits, requesting the state investigate the school district for compliance with the IDEA. Thanks to Educate. Advocate., for over ten years, school districts who have denied students on an IEP education due to their vaccine status have been found to be out of compliance by the state. Filing a compliance complaint is not a legal action, has no fees and can be done by anyone, attorneys and advocates are not required. Templates for prior complaints can be found on our website.

A due process complaint is a legal action filed with the Office of Administrative Hearings, where an adjudicative law judge (ALJ) reviews and issues an order. Due process does not statistically favor parents who file without attorneys, which is costly. The school district will also file due process and utilize in-house general counsel or outside attorneys. It is not necessary to employ attorneys to educate a district on the IEP exemption, despite what other organizations may suggest or charge. School districts, as well as county offices of education and SELPAs (Special Education Local Plan Area), have contracts with law firms. These attorneys are ready to fight, charging hourly fees whether they win or lose and often fight to remove services from students. This was an issue at the inception of Educate. Advocate. in 2008. They advocate for “Education Not Litigation!” because many school districts would rather fight families with their attorneys and law firms than actually provide services, education, and supports.

Educate. Advocate. has a template letter on their website [link removed] [[link removed]] that clearly outlines the district’s responsibility to provide a Free and Public Education (FAPE) to students on an IEP regardless of their vaccine status. Ideally, this comes from the parent and not an attorney. If you utilize a letter from an attorney, be prepared for the district to respond with their own legal counsel and employ a lengthy and costly legal battle.

One last point about medical exemptions. Oftentimes school districts ask for medical exemptions even though a family has their student on an IEP. You do not need to provide a medical exemption, nor should you. If you can find a physician who will write one, the California Department of Public Health routinely will deny them, as well as putting a mark against the physician who submits it, thanks to SB 276 from 2019. So if the school district tries to steer the conversation towards that topic, please do not fall for it nor waste your time trying to get a medical exemption for your student.

The team at Educate. Advocate. has been a source for all education and support regarding students on an IEP and their right to receive an education, support, and services regardless of their vaccine status for over ten years. Their primary advocates who assist families directly who have challenging districts are “the Shannons” who have dedicated countless hours to help families. We are incredibly grateful for their generosity and amazing advocacy. This work could not exist or be successful without their dedication. Feel free to donate to Educate. Advocate. to support their work at: [link removed] [[link removed]] .

For non-IEP-related questions related to California's K-12 vaccine laws and school options for children who are not fully vaccinated in California, view AVFCA's summary page: [link removed] [[link removed]] .

If you found this information helpful and appreciate the work A Voice for Choice Advocacy is doing, please support us by making a donation today.

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Together we can make change happen!

C
Christina Hildebrand
President/Founder
A Voice for Choice Advocacy, Inc.
[email protected] [[email protected]]
www.AVoiceForChoiceAdvocacy.org [[link removed]]
www.avoiceforchoiceadvocacy.org [www.avoiceforchoiceadvocacy.org]
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A Voice for Choice Advocacy
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