Mother Fearful CCS
May Eject Twins Due
To Misunderstanding
Since NY Legislature Changed Law, She
Says Her Children On Vaccination Track
By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com
COOPERSTOWN – The mother of two 7-year-olds said she received an email this morning from Cooperstown Superintendent of Schools Bill Crankshaw directing her to remove her children from school for failing to be fully vaccinated.
Amanda Perrault, a Hartwick College graduate who works at Bassett Healthcare and lives in the Town of Hartwick, said a few minutes ago that, while she has a religious objection to using vaccines developed from aborted fetal tissue. (The Immunization Action Coalition reports that two cell lines from two legally aborted fetuses in the 1960s are the basis of vaccines for varicella, rubella, hepatitis A and other ailments.)
However, since the state Legislature removed the religious exemption in June, the two children have been undergoing the vaccination regimen, and are due for their final injections Oct. 16. “As far as I understand it,” she said, “it’s effected a lot of families statewide.”
Meanwhile, tests (titers) as recently as yesterday have shown Perrault’s two children are free of any of the feared diseases, and she believes that she is in compliance with all associated provisions of the state Public Health Law.
The email she received from Crankshaw this morning includes “as it was explained to me,” which caused the mother to believe that the superintendent may not understand that her children are compliant and in the process of becoming fully compliant.
Called a few minutes ago, Crankshaw was in a meeting and unable to take a call until 11:30.
Nonetheless, she was fearful this morning that her children would be quarantined at the school, or that police would become involved.
Perrault said she recognizes the need for vaccines, and while in college she participated on a mission to Bolivia to vaccinate children against measles. But raised a Catholic and now a Christian, she withheld vaccinations heretofore because of her religious beliefs.
With her husband Cory fighting cancer and tending babies at home, she has no daycare option of the children can’t go to school, she said.
We also received multiple phone calls from the school nurse as well as a nurse in the school-based health program. I guess my question would be if your child is not allowed to attend a public school the school should be calling you and making that decision not a member of the hospital. The hospital shouldn’t have anything to do with it in my opinion. Why is the hospital calling and telling you your child is not allowed to attend a public school that should be one the principals job or the school superintendent not a member of the Bassett Hospital. It seems to me they need to get a better understanding of the new law before they go kicking kids out of school or threatening to kick them out of school. And I also don’t feel that it’s right to segregate them and treating them like they have some sort of disease and removing them away from other kids in school. They remove my daughter from class It made her sit in the nurses Office and then told her that she could go back to class and she’s five years old.
I am in Rochester, this is happening across the state. The NY DOH passed an emergency regulation and has additionally directed schools to remove children who are not in compliance with the ACIP catch up schedule, meaning one you start to vaccine you must receive all of the required doses according the schedule (every 4 weeks)