Massachusetts School District Will Exclude Unvaccinated Students This Fall
- by Rishma Parpia
- Published
- Cultural Values
Newton Public Schools in Newton, Massachusetts will now require all students to be vaccinated before returning to school in the fall of 2025 unless they have a valid medical or religious exemption to vaccination. Superintendent Anna Nolin announced the policy change after a review prompted by a recent increase in chickenpox cases across the district. District officials say more than 182 students have attended school without the required vaccinations since 2020, including 42 students who were not fully vaccinated against measles.1
Unvaccinated Students Will Be Excluded Without Exemption
In a memo dated June 16, 2025, Superintendent Anna Nolin said a meeting with Newton Health and Human Services and the City of Newton’s Nursing Division revealed the extent of the issue. Many of the unvaccinated students were allowed to enroll during the COVID-19 pandemic under emergency policies that temporarily waived state vaccination requirements.2
Nolin confirmed that those waivers have now been revoked. In collaboration with local health officials, the district has reinstated full vaccination requirements. She noted that the students are missing different mandated vaccines for school attendance. Personalized outreach will be conducted to notify families about the steps needed to comply with Massachusetts vaccination requirements to attend school.3
The memo also stated that any unvaccinated student who is exposed to measles will be required to stay home from school for 21 days. The district emphasized that it is not required to provide compensatory education during that quarantine period. It adds that when school resumes this fall, the school district will not allow any student to return unless they are fully vaccinated according to Massachusetts State requirements or have a state-approved approved exemption.4
Students may be exempt from vaccination requirements if a doctor provides a written statement saying vaccination is not in the child’s best interest. In order to obtain a religious exemption to vaccine requirements, a letter from the parent/guardian or the individual seeking exemption can be used and the request should state in writing that a vaccine conflicts with the individual’s sincerely held religious belief.5 6 7
Massachusetts Lawmakers Consider Ending Religious Exemption for School Vaccines
Not all parents are on board with the new vaccination mandate. One Newton mother voiced strong opposition, saying, “If I had my choice, I would not vaccinate them at all. I think the vaccines are poison.”8
Massachusetts currently allows families to request exemptions from school vaccination requirements for medical or religious reasons; however, lawmakers are now considering a bill that would eliminate the religious exemption. The proposed legislation, filed by State Representative Andres Vargas , seeks to remove all non-medical exemptions for routine school-entry vaccinations.9 10
Katie Blair of Massachusetts Families for Vaccines said:
Several states have gotten rid of them in recent years, including California, Connecticut, Maine and New York, all around here. So we’re hoping to be the next one.11
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