Parent Resources
School Vaccine Exemptions in New York
Two ready-to-use letters you can send to your child’s principal and superintendent with a medical exemption, plus a plain-language FAQ on how New York’s medical exemption actually works. Everything here is free to download and free to use.
Start here: which letter do I need?
Most families
General Education letter
Use this if your child does not have an IEP or a Section 504 plan.
IEP or 504 plan
Special Education letter
Use this if your child has an IEP or a Section 504 plan. It says everything the other letter says, and adds a section asking the district to keep your child’s services in place if he or she is kept out of the building.
Background reading
New York School Vaccine Exemptions — FAQ
What the statute says, who decides, what a school may and may not ask for, what the August 2026 executive order does and does not change, and what to do if you are denied.
Use one letter or the other — not both.
Before you start: five things to have in hand
- The DOH-5077 form, completed and signed by a physician (M.D. or D.O.) licensed in New York State. A nurse practitioner or physician assistant cannot sign it — schools reject exemptions on exactly that basis.
- Your physician’s supporting letter.
- Your child’s immunization record.
- Your child’s IEP or Section 504 plan — only if you are using the Special Education letter.
- Names and mailing addresses for your child’s principal and the district superintendent, and the list of immunizations actually required for your child’s grade this year. Ask the school nurse for that list.
Filling out the letter: six steps
1
Download the Word file and save your own copy
Save it with your child’s name in the file name. Keep it — a New York medical exemption lasts a maximum of one school year and has to be reissued every year, so you will want this again next August.
2
Replace everything inside square brackets
Every [ ] in the letter is a blank for you to fill in. To be sure you catch them
all, use Find — Ctrl+F on Windows, ⌘F on a Mac —
and search for the [ character.
When you are finished there should be no square brackets left anywhere in the letter. A bracket left behind is the most common mistake, and it is the first thing a reader notices.
3
Where you see a slash, keep only the part that applies
Some blanks offer you a choice. Delete the option that does not apply, along with the brackets and the slash:
| The letter says | You might make it |
|---|---|
[M.D./D.O.] | M.D. |
[an IEP / a Section 504 plan] | an IEP |
[CSE / Section 504 team] | CSE |
[until [date] / for [period]] | until June 30, 2027 |
4
Copy the three medical details straight off the DOH-5077
In the section headed “What is enclosed, and why nothing further is required,” you fill in three things:
- The vaccine or vaccines. List only the ones actually required for your child’s grade this year — not every vaccine on the form.
- The contraindication. One or two sentences, in your physician’s words.
- How long it applies. A date or a period.
Make these match the form word for word. If the letter and the DOH-5077 describe the contraindication differently, that difference becomes the school’s question.
5
Give the school a date to respond by
Pick a date roughly ten days to two weeks out, and before the first day of instruction. The letter
asks for it near the end — fill in [date] there.
6
Read it through once, then print and sign it by hand
Sign above the signature line and print your name beneath it.
Leave the legal citations and the quoted court language exactly as they are. That material is what puts the statute, the regulation and the controlling decisions in front of the person making the decision — it is the part of the letter doing the work.
Sending it
Send it both ways — by email and by regular mail. Address it to the principal and the superintendent, and copy the school nurse.
Attach or enclose:
- Your letter
- The signed DOH-5077
- Your physician’s supporting letter
- Your child’s immunization record
- Your child’s IEP or Section 504 plan, if you used the Special Education letter
Then keep a copy of everything, including the sent email. Every time you speak with someone at the school, write down the date, who you spoke with, and what was said. Families who keep that record are in a far better position later than families who reconstruct it from memory.
A few things to avoid
- Don’t put a religious objection on the medical form. New York has no religious exemption, and the August 2026 federal executive order did not create one. A religious objection described as a medical contraindication invites a denial that is easy for the school to defend, and it can undermine your credibility on a later appeal. If your objection is religious, say so honestly and get advice about your options.
- Don’t check every vaccine box. A targeted exemption is stronger, and easier for a school to accept, than a blanket one.
- Don’t wait. Submit well before the first day of school. July or early August gives everyone time.
- Don’t let it go quiet. Silence past the start of school is a problem, not a good sign. Follow up in writing and ask for a determination.
- Don’t sit on a denial. An appeal to the Commissioner of Education must be brought within 30 days of the decision, and that clock can start running while you are still trying to work it out informally by email.
If your exemption has been denied, or your child has been excluded
Get the denial in writing, with reasons — then call a lawyer. Not in a few weeks. The deadlines in this area are short, and the shortest one is the easiest to miss.
These materials describe New York law as of August 2026. Court decisions and agency guidance in this area are changing quickly, and the law described here may have changed by the time you read it. Nothing on this page is legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created by downloading or using these forms. Consult an attorney about your child’s specific circumstances.