Education Law: State of California, Regulations for Admission

Education Law
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Education Law
Activity 2: Finding the admission and exit conditions in my state
Step 1: State of California
California State statute for admission requirements for public schools:
California (CA) Education Code Section 48200-48208
California State exit exam requirements:
Senate Bill 172
Step 2: California State education regulations for admission requirements for public schools
California State education regulation for admission requirements for public schools:
Senate Bill 277
California State exit exam requirements:
Senate Bill 172
Step 3: five questions
Question 1
The admission requirements for the state of California include vaccination or immunization requirements. On 1st July 2016, the new vaccination law went into effect in the State of California. This new law is called Senate Bill 277. Before this new rule was enacted, parents in California were not required to immunize their children. Even so, following the passage of this vaccination law, if a child wants to attend child care centres and private or public schools, it is mandatory for the child to be immunized against ten serious communicable illnesses. If children are not vaccinated, they have to be enrolled in independent study without classroom teaching or homeschooled. The rule says that public or private secondary schools, elementary schools, preschools and child care centres in California cannot admit any child unless that child is immunized against ten illnesses. These are chicken pox, tetanus, polio, mumps, measles, rubella, hepatitis B, whooping cough, bacterial meningitis, and diphtheria.
However, there are 2 exceptions: one for health reasons and the other for special education reasons. One exception to California’s new vaccination law, Senate Bill 277, is for children with a medication exemption, which is essentially a note from a valid physician which attests that the health condition of the child forbids or disallows vaccinations. It is worth mentioning that students are affected by this rule at specific checkpoints only: when they enter child care, kindergarten or transitional kindergarten; seventh grade; or moving into child care or schools from out the nation or out of California. Besides health reasons, the other exception is for children enrolled in independent study or homeschooling with no classroom instruction. Beginning 1st July 2016, students attending an independent study program or home-based private school with no classroom-based instruction are not subject to vaccination pre-requirements for entry.
Question 2
The 2 exceptions to California’s vaccination law are (i) if a note from a doctor attests that the health condition of the student does prohibit immunizations or vaccinations, and (ii) if the student attends an independent study program or home-based private school with no classroom-based instruction. At the moment, California State education regulations or statutes do not have provisions that prohibit students who were not vaccinated from attending school during outbreaks. California’s vaccination laws including the new Senate Bill 277 do not say anything with regard to banning unvaccinated students from going to school when there is an outbreak. When parents fail to vaccinate their children, they not only put their own children, but also the entire community at a higher risk of vaccine-preventable, severe illnesses. These provisions are important because by ensuring that children are immunized before being admitted to school, they help in preventing outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases within a community. The provisions help in preventing increased risk of disease outbreaks which puts other people at risk, including those children who cannot be immunized.
Question 3
California State admission requirements are clear with regard to race or gender. This is covered under California (CA) Education Code Section 48200-48208. According to CA Education Code Section 48204 b(1), no school district in the State of California is allowed to decline admitting a student basing on the student’s gender, race, scholastic accomplishment, parental income, ethnicity, or on the basis of any other arbitrary consideration. This law clearly forbids a school district in California from discrimination a pupil based on the aforementioned characteristics.
Question 4
There has been litigation over California’s admission requirements in a state court. The case pertains to SB 277, the California rule that necessitates mandatory vaccination before a student is admitted. The legal claim was that the new law banned vaccination exceptions on a personal belief or religious bas...