NY Religious exemption help please!

[healthgirl]

Hello everyone -

Last year I was working with Gary Krasner on writing my religious exemption letter to get my daughter (who is fully vaxed to two) into kindergarten and my son (who in not vaxed at all) into preschool.

He approved my letter but I ended up not needing it at the time since my daughter's titers showed measels immunity and my son's preschool accepted my religious exemption with no problem.

Here's my problem.  My school district does preschool evalutations in hopes of catching problems early and wouldn't you know it they caught a problem with my son's speech.  I was told by the woman in the district that he would definately qualify for speech services and all I have to do is register him with the school district and bring his immunization records and he would recieve speech services.  So I contact Gary to make sure I'm doing the right thing and he tells me that it's even more difficult to obtain a religious exemption in NY state and although my letter is ok it's not strong enough and I should add another paragraph citiing scriptures to support another paragraph.

I'm a little confused to say the least.  I'm pretty sure I've read to keep scriptures and such out of the letter.  Am I wrong?

Can anyone offer any advice?  Especially anyone in NY state who managed to get a religious exemption.  I'm on Long Island if that matters any. 

Thanks for any help you can offer.

[Jugs]

When I registered ds1 for his services, the school didn't really care since he wasn't actually going to be in the school; they really just need something in place of the vax record.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

I would contact a lawyer familiar with the laws in your area.  I dont know why, but I get this feeling I read that the laws in New York CITY and the rest of the state are different.  I am in contact with civil rights lawyer who is very familiar with the vaccination laws. Hes in my area.  Your right, I would NOT include scriptures or citings from ANY religious material AT ALL.  What my lawyer did was include the LAW that PROTECTS our religious rights in my letter.  It only cost me $130 to have him evaluate a letter I had already written, and edit in a few more things.  Then I had the peace of mind before handing it in. 

[Emmeline II]

Most if not all exemptions for NYC are filtered through one person in NYC. If you are out on LI you are not filtered through that one (picky) person. You could try the tribe board for NY (I think LI has a separate tribe thread) and see if someone has submitted one in your area/district. Citing scripture goes against everything I've heard for the past 6 years.

Edited by Emmeline II - 2/24/11 at 4:00pm

[healthgirl]

Thank you all for your help!

Jugs -  Do you mind if I ask what type of letter you submitted?  Was is a basic exemption letter that you can print off the internet or a full blown letter that states your religious beliefs?  Also, what school district was it?

Charlie's Angel -  Thanks for your help.  I think I may find a lawyer who can read my letter as it stands now and see if they can improve it.  How did you find your lawyer?

Emmeline II - I knew I wasn't going crazy!  I will definately try the LI tribe and see if they have any info to share with me.  BTW - I was hoping you would read and respond to my post.  You seem so knowledgable about this topic and I really enjoy reading your posts!

Thanks again!

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

There was a number to call that would direct you to lawyers in your area that specialized in the area in which you needed assistance.  First I contacted my mothers attorney and asked if he could help me.  He informed me that he wasnt very knowledable in that area, so he gave me the number to call to find out who was.  And that is how I found my lawyer.  I wrote a letter using the information I got here and also by skimming Gary Krasners website.  I emailed it to my lawyer, and he proofed it, adding in the actual laws that protect our right to choose and practise our religious beliefs, and that was it.  Pretty simple.  OH, and then I mailed him a check for 135 dollars (I think) lol.  Worth it in spades if you ask me.  WINK!

NO SCRIPTURE.  Just a very brief description of what is is about my religion that says vaccinations go against it.  If you feel it would help, PM me and I will send you a copy. 

[elus0814]

When we were in western NY we had no problem at all getting the waiver. I wrote out a one paragraph letter that stated how our deeply held religious beliefs are that God gives parents the authority to decide what is best for their children and we do not believe vaccines are in their best interest. I signed it and handed it in to the school nurse and there were no problems at all. I should add that this was a Catholic school but no one else in the school had a waiver. No lawyers, no money changing hands, just a simple letter.

[Jugs]

Originally Posted by healthgirl 
Jugs -  Do you mind if I ask what type of letter you submitted?  Was is a basic exemption letter that you can print off the internet or a full blown letter that states your religious beliefs?  Also, what school district was it?

I drafted my own rather long  letter, with Scriptures included; it was accepted in Rocky Point School District and Developmental Disabilities Institute. The thing with NY is how arbitrary the exemption process is; the decision is left up to the building principal (except for NYC), so your letter may be accepted in one school but denied in another. I was lucky because my home district only wanted something on paper and wasn't concerned about the content, and DDI was no stranger to exemptions.

[healthgirl]

Originally Posted by Jugs 

I drafted my own rather long  letter, with Scriptures included; it was accepted in Rocky Point School District and Developmental Disabilities Institute. The thing with NY is how arbitrary the exemption process is; the decision is left up to the building principal (except for NYC), so your letter may be accepted in one school but denied in another. I was lucky because my home district only wanted something on paper and wasn't concerned about the content, and DDI was no stranger to exemptions.

 

 ACK! Now I'm really confused! 

Did you work with Gary Krasner when you wrote your letter?

[Jugs]

Originally Posted by healthgirl 

 ACK! Now I'm really confused! 

Did you work with Gary Krasner when you wrote your letter?

Yes. I wrote it, then he looked it over and gave his advice. Whether or not to include Scriptures... as a general rule, the answer is no, BUT if you feel confident in being able to defend your use of Scripture if the school challenges you, then its perfectly fine. Truthfully, I am not actually religiously opposed to vaccination, but at that time I did not want to further vaccinate ds without further research, but he needed autism services so I did what I had to do. The whole basis of my letter was using Scripture to explain why I felt compelled to hault vaccination, not that I was actually opposed.

[healthgirl]

Ah .. that makes sense.  I'm thinking I need to include scripture since in my letter I tell about how my religion has been a huge part of my life since I was born.

Besides I'm certain Gary Krasner would not let me submit a letter unless it was good to go.

Thanks for all your help!

[mangalam]

Hello. New here and wondering if anyone has a successful template/sample letter used for NYC or NYS religious exemption? Deadline approaching and now confused about what to include. Thanks...

[emmy526]

http://www.vaccineexemption.org/

https://www.facebook.com/PatriciaFinnAttorney?fref=ts

this atty mite be able to help you

NY Sincererity test video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IwwB2ECmxU&feature=player_embedded

[reg423]

Originally Posted by ~Charlie's~Angel~ 

There was a number to call that would direct you to lawyers in your area that specialized in the area in which you needed assistance.  First I contacted my mothers attorney and asked if he could help me.  He informed me that he wasnt very knowledable in that area, so he gave me the number to call to find out who was.  And that is how I found my lawyer.  I wrote a letter using the information I got here and also by skimming Gary Krasners website.  I emailed it to my lawyer, and he proofed it, adding in the actual laws that protect our right to choose and practise our religious beliefs, and that was it.  Pretty simple.  OH, and then I mailed him a check for 135 dollars (I think) lol.  Worth it in spades if you ask me.  WINK!

NO SCRIPTURE.  Just a very brief description of what is is about my religion that says vaccinations go against it.  If you feel it would help, PM me and I will send you a copy. 

Hello! I'm a fairly new mom and have some time before I face the dreaded exemption process (although I cannot lie, this is heavy on my mind even now). I am trying to make sure I am prepared from every angle when it comes time to enroll my little one (now 2) in school. Would you mind PMing me the name of the attorney you used to assist with your exemption? Would be much appreciated! :)

[ami1974]

I live in New York State (upstate) and this is the first year we have had to submit an exemption.  Our older two boys, unfortunately, are fully vaccinated, but we just sent our 3rd ds to Kindergarten.  We stopped vaccinating when he was about 2.  My husband and I both became Chistians at that point and realized that the scriptures do strictly say not to!!  Anyway, I was given paperwork from our school that is a NYS Religious exemption form.  Every school district is mandated to carry it.  (some may tell you otherwise, but it is the law that they allow exemptions and have the info available)  Our children go to a private school so we had to submitted it to them and they submitted it to the public school district that our school resides.  I submitted it about 2 weeks ago and have not gotten a response yet...so we will see.  I did not site scripture but I did say scripture backs my arguement and paraphrased what scripture tells us.  I do feel strongly against immunizations on all levels and wish NYS gave exemptions based on philisophical reasons as well for others with no religious beliefs.  Good luck!

[davisam]

Can anyone here say that they used the attorney Patricia Finn??