Let your voice be heard. Get your kids back in school!

In September of 2019, SB 714 was authored in response to Governor Newsom's request for amendments to SB 276. Specifically, SB 714 addressed the Governor's proposal of “grandfathering” medical exemptions by ensuring that students with permanent medical exemptions retain their exemption until the next “gradespan”. This assurance was reiterated by Senator Pan numerous times during the Senate floor discussion of SB 714. The California Department of Health and Human Services (CHHS) provided a Vaccination FAQ a few days after SB 276/714 were signed by the Governor, also confirming such intent. There was no additional guidance for schools until August 19, 2020 when the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) updated its Vaccination FAQ website providing guidance to parents and directives to schools that contradict the statute language and intent expressed by Governor Newsom and Senator Pan.

The disparity between the statute language and CDPH guidance has wreaked havoc amongst school districts and local county health departments. Students with permanent medical exemptions switching schools within a gradespan (such as a pupil advancing from lower to upper elementary or upper elementary to middle school, sometimes simply changing buildings on a campus) are being uniformly excluded from school. In many instances, students previously registered for the 2020/21 school year are facing revocation of enrollment, leaving hundreds of students without educational access at the beginning of an already chaotic school year. This narrow, contradictory interpretation of SB 714 has compounded the educational barriers pupils face and has schools grappling with plummeting enrollment numbers, accusations of inequitable access to education and discrimination, in the face of ever changing, seemingly unattainable guidelines.

A Voice for Choice Advocacy wrote a letter outlining in detail the law and the intent of the legislators ( [link removed]). We asked CDPH to immediately modify the guidance document, Vaccinations and Medical Exemption Questions and Answers , to accurately reflect both the wording and intent of SB 714, which expressly grandfathers students' permanent medical exemptions through the end of a gradespan (Preschool-TK/K, TK/K-6 th , and 7-12 th ). Specifically, updating the document to state:

* Students may enroll into a new gradespan for the 2020-21 school year (preschool, TK/K or 7th grade) using a permanent medical exemption issued prior to 2020, in accordance with July 1, 2019 regulations.
* A permanent medical exemption dated prior to January 1, 2020 is valid until entry into the next grade span (TK/K through 6th grade and 7th through 12th grade). Permanent medical exemptions may be transferred between child-care facilities and schools in California, both within and across school districts.

But to make our requests impactful, we need you to share your story with your legislators, the Governor and CDPH. If you have had a child whose medical exemption has been rejected for this school year, please click on the link below: [link removed]

Please share this email and encourage others who are in the same situation to share their story as well.

Together we can make a difference!

Christina Hildebrand
President/Founder
A Voice for Choice Advocacy, Inc.
www.avoiceforchoiceadvocacy.org
408 835 9353

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A Voice for Choice Advocacy
530 Showers Drive, #7404
Mountain View, CA 94040
United States