The Right to Universal, Permanent Exemption to Vaccination for School Is Already YOURS!

Connie Johnson
11 minutes ago
5 min read

What are the laws for vaccinating School Age Children in Michigan (pre-k-12grade)?

Since 1978, Michigan law, as codified in the Public Health Code, Part 92, Immunization, provides that parents and legal guardians, may choose to exempt their children from the state’s mandatory immunization requirements in the case of “religious convictions” or “other objection” to immunization. MCL 333.9215(2).

A parent secures an exemption from the immunization requirements of Part 92 merely by presenting “a written statement” to the administrator of the child’s school “to the effect that the requirements of this part [for mandatory immunization] cannot be met because of religious convictions or other objection to immunization.” MCL 333.9215(2).

● This is great news for parents! This means that you are only obligated to provide a written statement that you cannot comply with immunizations because you object to them. You do not need to state any additional reasons.

● Your school is required by law to immediately recognize this exemption as complete.

● This exemption becomes part of your child’s student record.

○ The privacy of student records is federally protected under FERPA, which means you have to give permission to the school for it to share this information with any third parties, including the health department.

○ Parents can also opt-out of the Michigan Care Improvement Registry (MCIR), which is the state vaccination tracking database. This means that the school nor the local health department cannot see your child’s vaccination records, or exemption information.

Under the Revised School Code, a child enrolling in school for the first time, or enrolling in seventh grade for the first time, must present a “statement signed by a parent” that “the child has not been immunized because of religious convictions or other objection” to immunization. MCL 380.1177.

Both the Public Health Code and the Revised School Code therefore establish that a parent secures an absolute and permanent exemption of their child from the requirements of mandatory immunization through the sole act of presenting an appropriate written statement to their child’s school. The written statement must state only that the requirements of Part 92 for mandatory immunization “cannot be met” including because of any “objection” to immunization, whether religious or “other”. Neither the Public Health Code nor the Revised School Code provide for any test of merit or test of validity of the parent’s “exemption”, which can be for any religious or “other” reason.

The Michigan Administrative Code was subsequently amended in 2014 with R 325.176(12), the text of which reads as follows (bold emphasis added):”When presented with a medical exemption, religious or other exemption, the administrator of a child's school or operator of a child's group program shall recognize the exemption status of the child. Each nonmedical exemption filed at the child’s school or group program of a child entering a program after December 31, 2014 shall be certified by the local health department that the individual received education on the risks of not receiving the vaccines being waived and the benefits of vaccination to the individual and the community. All waivers shall be submitted using the waiver form prescribed by the department.”

Prior to these changes, the pertinent sections of the Michigan Administrative Code applicable to vaccine exemptions had already defined “exemption” as a “waiver” of “specific immunization requirements for medical, religious, or other reasons”, and had already defined “other exemption” as a “written statement which is signed by the parent”, “which certifies that immunization is in conflict with” “other convictions of the signer”. R 325.176(1)(b); R 325.176(1)(d).

In other words, prior to the 2014 amendment to the Michigan Administrative Code, R 325.176(12), it was already understood that, in local health jurisdictions without regulations to the contrary, parents were to request and secure “exemptions” through the sole process of a written statement to the child’s school, and that local health departments were to then process “waivers” of the applicable immunization requirements upon notification of such an exemption having been perfected. Parents did not request “waivers”, nor was the active participation of a parent necessary for this purely administrative function.

● This is also great news! You, the parent, don’t get a “waiver”. The waiver is an internal administrative process. You don’t need to participate.

● Schools have been told by MDHHS for a decade that YOU must comply. You do not.

● MDHHS must clarify that the administrative rule applies only to the local health department and provide schools guidance to accept and recognize your written objection to vaccination as the only exemption necessary under the law.

MDHHS does not have the authority to legislate through administrative rules. The law is the law, and MDHHS may not violate the law

In summary, Michigan state law establishes that that a parent secures an absolute and permanent exemption of their child from the requirements of mandatory immunization through the sole act of presenting an appropriate written statement to their child’s school, and that no further active participation of the parent is required to perfect this exemption. Michigan regulations further require that, upon the school’s receipt of a such a perfected exemption, a local public health department is to subsequently provide the parent certain passive education (meaning you can’t be forced), without the further active participation of the parent, and that upon certification that this education has been passively provided, the local health department is to complete a “waiver” as a purely internal administrative function. However, federal law establishes that the written statement constituting the perfected exemption becomes a confidential educational record subject to the FERPA, and not subject to routine disclosures, including to local health departments. Please note: Administrative rules primarily govern agencies, not people directly. They are regulations created by government agencies to implement, interpret, and enforce laws passed by legislatures. These rules guide how agencies operate, set standards for their procedures, and ensure compliance with statutory mandates. While they can indirectly affect individuals or businesses (e.g., through regulations on industries or public services), their primary purpose is to direct and constrain agency actions to ensure consistency, transparency, and adherence to the law.