In California, prior law indicated that all public schools needed to require proof of immunization against specific infectious diseases, including measles, mumps and pertussis, from all students before their admissions. However, students whose parents submitted letters of affidavit stating medical reasons or personal beliefs opposed to immunization would be exempted from this law. Prior law also required schools to ask students who were exposed to one of the specified diseases or showed any sign of that disease to temporarily stay home.
On June 30th 2015, 6 months after the controversial measles outbreak that started in Disneyland, California's governor Jerry Brown has signed a new bill that includes some significant changes to the vaccination requirements. The bill removes the exemption from prior law that was based only upon personal beliefs against vaccinations, except for specific cases approved by the State Department of Public Health for medical reasons or personal beliefs. Letters of affidavit signed by parents will not be sufficient to opt out from immunization anymore, unless these letters are submitted to the schools prior to January 1st 2016, but parents will still be required to follow the new law starting the next school year. Under the new law, children who are home-schooled or attending home-based private programs that do not involve class-room activities will be exempted. One notable change to the requirements asks schools to only temporarily exclude students who are exposed to one of the aforementioned diseases and do not have proof of immunization to that disease.
Source: 1, 2 & 3
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