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Multiple OAH Rulings Uphold
Students on an IEP can Remain in School
Without SB277 CA School Vaccine Requirements!
Thanks to Educate.Advocate!

Per SB 277, the California School Vaccine Requirement law passed in 2015, if a child has special needs and is in public school with a valid IEP or in a private school receiving public school IEP services, they do not need to be fully vaccinated. While the school may ask for any available vaccination records, they cannot require them to be up to date or have a medical exemption on file for any missing vaccines. The CDPH continuously incorrectly informs schools that children with an IEP must be vaccinated, and because of this many school districts are wasting money by hiring costly lawyers to argue that children with an IEP must be vaccinated or have a valid Vaccine Medical Exemption.

Educate.Advocate. ( [link removed] [[link removed]] ) is a wonderful non-profit organization serving families with exceptional needs. EA has been around long before most other health rights organizations and warriors, fighting against school vaccine mandates in California since 2011. Since 2015, EA has also been working diligently behind the scenes holding school districts accountable to ensure that California students on an IEP can remain in their in person school placement with their services and supports as outlined in their IEP regardless of their vaccine status. Below are highlights from the Office of Administrative Hearing judge’s opinions of two examples of recent cases Educate. Advocate. helped win that defend that the federal disability laws uphold that a child with an IEP is allowed to remain in their in person school placement with their services and supports as outlined in their IEP without complying with the CA school vaccination requirements.

Corona-Norco Unified School District Stay Put Order - February 27, 2024

"Student's IEP highlights a guiding principle of the IDEA, that children with special needs be educated in the least restrictive environment appropriate to meet their needs. Student's general education placement is an inextricable component of his IEP. The IEP itself provides for consultative services to facilitate acquisition and generalization of Student's skills across settings. That means that Student will be aided in using skills developed in speech and language services in his general education setting, while also being exposed to typically developing peer language models.

The IDEA expresses a clear policy preference for inclusion to the maximum extent appropriate as an aspiration for all children with special needs. (Citation) School districts are required to provide each special education student with a program in the least restrictive environment with removal from the regular education environment occurring only when the nature or severity of the student's disabilities is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services could not be achieved satisfactorily. (Citation)

Moreover, the IDEA is designed to provide disabled students with access to special education and related services in schools. (citation). Accordingly, California courts have already decided that the vaccination exception prevents school districts from excluding unvaccinated students with IEP's from attending school. (citation) (under the IDEA, students with IEPs are exempted from the requirement to be vaccinated in order to attend school.))

Corona-Norco cites no law overturning Whitlow nor providing a different interpretation of the statutory exception provided to Student's with IEPs found in Health and Safety Code, section 120335, subdivision (h). Nor can Corona-Norco provide authority that board policies take precedent over the statutory framework governing immunizations and exceptions to immunization."

Dry Creek Joint Elementary School District Stay Put Order - August 22, 2024

"The dispute centers on the meaning of the special education and related services Student may access notwithstanding his immunization status. Dry Creek argues the California legislature did not intend for the exemption to apply to Student’s placement and suggests it can implement the general education component of Student’s educational program through an independent study model. Dry Creek relies on Dr. Pan’s declaration which attests the California Legislature intended for students with IEPs to access special education services, but not access the general education environment unless the student complied with the vaccination requirement or received a valid medical exemption. However, this distinction between special education and related services and placement is not stated in Health and Safety Code section 120335, subdivision (h). Further, a June 9, 2015 transcription from the California Assembly Health Committee meeting does not demonstrate the same intention as stated by Dr. Pan. Several committee members expressed their understanding that the bill should not impact the “ability of a [disabled child] to get a full program afforded to them in their IEP” and that nothing in the bill should prohibit a child with an IEP to access the "mainstreaming component” or prevent them from being “allowed to take part in normal classroom activities with other kids in a general setting if they had the exemption.”...

"Similarly, Dry Creek’s argument that the Health and Safety Code only requires a school district to provide special education and related services undercuts a central principal under the IDEA: the right of children with special needs to be educated in the least restrictive environment appropriate to meet their needs and the clear policy preference for inclusion to the maximum extent appropriate. (20 U.S.C § 1412(a)(5)(A); 34 C.F.R. §§ 300.114 & 300.116; Ed. Code, § 56031.)"

To note: Dr Pan is mentioned in the judge’s order above. While Dr Pan is no longer in the Senate creating vaccine legislation, he has inserted himself into the legal process by becoming an expert witness on California vaccine law. Thankfully, Educate.Advocate. had the transcript from the SB 277 hearings to show Dr Pan’s rendition of the law was not how it was intended. The exception for IEP students was an amendment forced on then Senator Pan and so he really should not be considered the expert in this realm. The judge agreed!

The above are just two examples, but there are many more wins that Educate.Advocate. has had for children on IEPs. (M ore info and background: [link removed] [[link removed]] ) . A Voice for Choice Advocacy is thankful to Educate.Advocate. for being THE organization working to resolve all these cases in favor of the students and is proud to collaborate closely with them. If you have an issue with your child's IEP, please be sure to contact them directly.

This email concludes this AVFCA Lawsuits Update email series. Lawsuits are very expensive. If you want to see the continued chipping away of school vaccine requirements in California through a religious exemption and/or titer testing, please donate TODAY, so we can ensure these lawsuits will bring health rights and medical freedom back to California’s children. AVFCA does not often ask for donations, but this is one of those times...

AVFCA cannot do this without you!
For the next 7 days we have a matching donation up to $50,000
Please DONATE anything and everything you can TODAY
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Over the last 9 years A Voice for Choice Advocacy, and our sister organization, A Voice for Choice, have been sustained only by grassroots donations, as well as my own significant donations. We are so thankful to everyone who has generously donated. However, AVFCA always needs your help to make our efforts sustainable. If you appreciate the work we do, AVFCA asks you to donate as generously as you can - no amount is too little or too great! If you are not already, please consider becoming a monthly donor: www.avoiceforchoiceadvocacy.org/donate [[link removed]]

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For other ways to donate and support A Voice for Choice, please go to our website: [link removed] [[link removed]] Thank you in advance for your generosity.

Note: If you are giving a large donation and file an itemized tax deduction then AVFC is where you want to donate. However, donations to either A Voice for Choice (501c3) or A Voice for Choice Advocacy (501c4) will support these lawsuits.

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Together we can make change happen!

C
Christina Hildebrand
President/Founder
A Voice for Choice Advocacy, Inc.
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www.avoiceforchoiceadvocacy.org [www.avoiceforchoiceadvocacy.org]
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