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New homeschooling Mom in TN- Help
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Hello, I’m new to this website, but I’ve been homeschooling my twin, 7 year old daughters from the “very beginning”. I went to my LEA this year to register them again for this year, they’re starting 2nd grade, and I was told they could not be registered unless I provided up to date immunization records. I have chosen- after my girls were already 2 yrs old- that I no longer wanted any more vaccines for them. I have several reasons, though it isn’t necessarily”against my religion”, I suppose it could be… Anyway, I was told I can either vaccinate my children or fill out a form stating it is in fact against my religion to vaccinate them. My question: are these truly my only choices? Does anyone have any info on this matter, with regards to Tennessee law? I have so many more questions and I’m so happy I found this site! I’d like to thank any & everyone in advance for any help/suggestions and for taking the time to read this. Thank you!
Here is a summary of TN homeschool law from HSLDA. It looks like vaccines are required unless you religiously object.
I understand the TN law to say that immunization is required if you choose Option 1 registering through the public school system. I don’t believe it is required if you use a church related school.
I’ve read a little about church related schools and umbrella schools, but I’m not completely clear on the matter. From other posts I’ve read it sounds as though the state has no “control” (for lack of a better word), over our homeschool situation- i.e. attendance records, shot records, grades, etc. Is this correct? Do you have to be a member of a church to be part of say Gateway or HomeLife?
When I was in TN, I used Homelife Academy. I actually still keep my records with them so the kids will get a TN diploma at graduation. It has been 5 years since I was there, and I don’t know if laws have changed; but I have never been asked about shots.
You do not have to be a member of a church. It doesn’t have anything to do with church. They are wonderful Christian people, but that’s as far as that goes. I think one of the questions is something like, “Do you meet with others to worship regularly?” or something like that. I do that, so I don’t know what they would say if the answer was no.
Homelife has been extremely helpful to us. I would recommend them highly.
From what I’ve heard so far, umbrella schools look like the way to go. I’m still not exactly clear on all the details though. Looks like I need to research them more. Something like HomeLife sounds great. Although I do not attend a “church” regularly, (although my Mama always told me “church is when more than 2-4 people get together to read and study the Bible”), so by that definition I DO attend! It sounds like umbrella schools give you more “freedom” than our Local Education Agency aka LEA- which is just the Dept. of Education…
I didn’t see anything in the TN homeschooling laws about having to provide shot records for homeschooled children- only children planning to attend a public school setting, but I may have overlooked it somewhere…? Since I’m relatively new still to this process, I really don’t want to do anything to upset “them”. At times this is all a bit daunting. Thank you all for your help! Again, I’m so glad I found this site!!
You’re near me, then. This is my 19th year of homeschooling and have been registered with Gateway. I don’t ever recall having to provide immunization records although I would call them to make sure. Sometimes I have “senior moments” and forget these details. I DO know that I’ve had library patrons very upset because they’ve gotten calls from Homelife requiring proof of immunizations. I would just call the various umbrella schools and ask what their requirements are. Gateway is wonderful and very non- intrusive. And I’m sure they get questions like this all the time.
FYI on the religious exemption…our religious exemption to vaccines is because we are pro-life, and several vaccines are cultured in aborted fetal tissue. MMR, HepA, and Varicella are grown in aborted fetal tissue. Because of this, I can state religious exemption against immunizations because I believe abortion is biblically wrong. I don’t know what TN law requires, but in TX there are religious or reasons of conscience exemptions you can get from the state and have notorized to use whenever you are in a situation that vaccines are required (ex. church camp, school, day care). We’ve only had to use the form once, and that was to get into a pediatrician who would not take us because we are non-vaccinated. By law, no one can refuse these affidavits because they are issued by the state of TX. You might look into that for TN.
Thank you ladies! You have all been very helpful. We are also pro-life so I will definitely be finding that form. I feel stupid for taking this long to realize how bad these vaccines actually are! I wish I’d taken the time before my girls were born to study up on the vaccines more closely. But it’s good to know there are “others”! In my town I certainly feel like the only one who is opposed to vaccines. Now, regarding the umbrella schools, could you tell me a little more about what they (Gateway) provide for you? I mean why register through an umbrella school as opposed to just the local school department?
Just to set the record straight, those vaccines are not grown in aborted fetal tissue. As is explained in the article that @LindseyD linked to, the original source in the 1960s was fetal tissue but they are no longer grown that way. To quote from the article, “No further sources of fetal cells are needed to make these vaccines.”
The cultures now come from self-perpetuating cells that continually reproduce more cells. Companies grow those cell lines then provide them to researchers, drug companies, and other medical technology companies.
Please don’t get into a pro/anit-vax discussion here as I only brought this up for awareness. My goal is only to point out that given the facts of how they are actually produced, you may or may not be succesful in a pro-life based religious exemption. It’s good to keep these things in mind as you proceed.
I’m sorry I was in a hurry earlier and didn’t take the time to find a more updated article. It is true that no new fetal tissue is used in the manufacture of vaccines, “new” being the key word there. The tissue, however, has been cloned over and over again to produce new vaccines. And for many vaccines, MMR and rabies, for example there are no other alternative sources for culturing. This published paper from February 2014 confirms what Doug said about “no new fetal tissue”, but it also states in the next paragraph that the vaccines are cultured using the cell lines from those aborted babies.
Here is another article, written from a Christian perspective, that discusses the idea of self-perpetuating cells being used from two aborted fetuses. While he states that there is no aborted fetal tissue remaining in the vaccines, he does clearly state that the vaccines were originally cultured in the human tissue. Maybe there isn’t actual tissue remaining, but there also aren’t studies that prove the safety of any remaining human DNA that may or may not remain in the vaccines.
My intention in posting was not to start a vaccine debate. Whether or not you choose to vaccinate your children is your business, and I won’t judge you for your choices. My intention was to give the OP information regarding religious exemptions, since it was obvious that she was unaware of her options. I would assume that if there weren’t legitimate religious reasons or reasons of conscience to opt out of immunizations, states like Texas and others wouldn’t offer state-approved affidavits for those reasons.
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