To claim a religious exemption from childhood vaccinations in Alaska, you complete the state’s Religious Exemption Form for vaccines, sign it in front of a notary, and file it with your child’s school, preschool, or childcare facility. The exemption runs on a July 1 through June 30 cycle, and you have to submit a fresh notarized form every year.1Alaska Department of Health. Alaska Child Care and School Immunization Requirements Packet Alaska recognizes only religious and medical exemptions; personal or philosophical objections do not qualify.
Where To Download the Form
The Alaska Department of Health publishes the official form inside its Child Care and School Immunization Requirements packet, which also contains the instructions and the text of the governing regulations.2Alaska Department of Health. Alaska School and Childcare Immunization Requirements Some school districts post copies on their own websites. Use only the official state version. Altering the wording or substituting a document of your own can invalidate the exemption.1Alaska Department of Health. Alaska Child Care and School Immunization Requirements Packet
How To Fill It Out
The form is a single page. At the top, enter your child’s name and date of birth. Below that sits a pre-printed affirmation: “I/We affirm that immunization conflicts with the tenets and practices of the church or religious denomination of which the applicant/parent/guardian is a member.” Signing the form adopts that statement as your own.1Alaska Department of Health. Alaska Child Care and School Immunization Requirements Packet
You do not need a letter from clergy, a membership certificate, or any supporting document from a religious body. The form does not ask you to name your denomination or describe your beliefs. What matters is that the affirmation is tied to the tenets of a church or religious denomination. Adding statements about personal, political, or philosophical opposition to vaccines will invalidate the exemption, and so will crossing out, rewording, or adding to the pre-printed language.1Alaska Department of Health. Alaska Child Care and School Immunization Requirements Packet
Sign in the parent or guardian area and add your phone number and the date. If two parents or guardians are signing, both signatures go in that same section.
Getting It Notarized
Every Religious Exemption Form has to be notarized before you submit it.1Alaska Department of Health. Alaska Child Care and School Immunization Requirements Packet Do not sign the form beforehand. Sign it in front of the notary public.
Before you leave the notary’s office, look over the notary block at the bottom of the form. It needs the notary’s signature, printed name, city, commission expiration date, the acknowledgment statement, and the seal, all legible. A blank field or an expired commission means starting over with a fresh copy. Notary services are available at banks, shipping stores, courthouses, and some libraries. Alaska does not cap notary fees by statute, but a notary has to disclose the fee before starting.
Where To Submit It
Take the completed, notarized form to the school, preschool, or childcare facility where your child is enrolled. The facility keeps the form on file. Alaska does not maintain a central registry.1Alaska Department of Health. Alaska Child Care and School Immunization Requirements Packet Handing it to the school nurse or front office in person lets you confirm on the spot that everything is in order. If you mail it, use a delivery method that gives you confirmation.
File the form before the school year begins. Turning it in during summer registration keeps your child from getting flagged for missing immunization records on day one. If your child moves to a different school or childcare facility partway through the year, the new facility needs its own copy of the notarized form.
Renewing Every Year
The exemption is valid only from July 1 through June 30. Each year your child remains in school or childcare, you have to complete and notarize a new form. Last year’s paperwork cannot be carried forward.1Alaska Department of Health. Alaska Child Care and School Immunization Requirements Packet For children in summer school or year-round childcare, enforcement of the annual renewal begins July 15, so a new notarized form should be on file by mid-July to avoid a gap.
A late-June calendar reminder is usually enough to stay ahead of it. The form is identical from year to year, so the real work is another trip to the notary.
What the Exemption Does Not Cover
The form itself notes that your child may be excluded from school or childcare during an outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease. The exclusion continues until one of three things happens: your child receives the relevant vaccine, your child contracts and fully recovers from the disease, or public health officials determine the outbreak risk has passed.1Alaska Department of Health. Alaska Child Care and School Immunization Requirements Packet Facilities are expected to keep a list of children who could be at risk so they can act quickly. The length of an exclusion depends on the disease; a measles outbreak, for instance, can keep an unvaccinated child home for three weeks or more because of the virus’s long incubation period. That call rests with public health officials, not the school.