Signal Crest United Methodist Preschool Discriminates Against Unvaccinated Children

Across Tennessee, unvaccinated children are discriminated against as they seek fairness in educational opportunities. No other class of children, regardless of their health status, is similarly denied access to services. Being unvaccinated is the modern-day equivalent of being a person of color during the Democrat-led “Jim Crowe” era of Tennessee’s history. Show more

As an example, Signal Crest United Methodist Preschool discriminates against unvaccinated children citing board policy that requires all children enrolled to be up-to-date on all “baseline” vaccines. This is a common practice of many educational institutions throughout Tennessee.
Brandon Lewis, based on a personal experience of discrimination, sent a letter to the preschool and asked for it to be passed along to the board.

Lewis wrote, “First, I doubt your church turns away unvaccinated children for worship. It seems to me odd, given the command of the Great Commission, for a Christian organization to turn unvaccinated children away. Jesus did not say, ‘Suffer the little children to come to me unless they are unvaccinated’.”

“Second, if the health of the pre-school as it relates to communicable diseases is the goal, should you not discriminate in additional ways aside from vaccination status alone? It's widely known that the overweight, sedentary, immunocompromised or mentally depressed are far more susceptible to catching communicable diseases and spreading them. Does your organization discriminate against parents or children who have these characteristics? Of course not.” 

“Why single out unvaccinated children alone? Is this moral?,” Lewis questioned. 

As in many cities in Tennessee, there are educational institutions that do not discriminate against unvaccinated children. Lewis reports that Foundations Preschool in Chattanooga and Signal Mountain Christian School do not discriminate, but treat all children equally.

“The board should seriously pray over their callous, unbiblical approach to discrimination. In my opinion, it is shameful,” concluded Lewis’ letter to the board.

Tennessee law allows for medical and religious exemptions in lieu of vaccination at preschools, K-12 schools and at the college level also, but there is some debate about whether private entities who do not receive any funds from the state have to accept them.

In the case of Signal Crest, Tricia Earle, Preschool Director says that the private church preschool serving less than 100 students ages 2-5 is a ministry of the church and has been since 1962. Earle says that the preschool takes no money from the state. 

“It is my understanding that as a private institution, Signal Crest is allowed to set their policy on immunization requirements,” said Earle. “This policy was developed by our preschool board years back as our preschool community has seen a number of children, families and staff that have been immune compromised or have lived with loved ones who are, over the years. Covid and flu vaccines are not at all mandatory, but the childhood baseline vaccines are what we require in our enrollment.”

Earle stated that the policy does not persecute fellow Christians. However, many in the body of Christ disagree.

An individual that commented on one of our social media posts regarding this topic stated that it is a common misconception that private religious schools are allowed to reject students if not up-to-date on vaccinations and provided links to Tennessee law regarding the matter.
https://www.tn.gov/health/cedep/immunization-program/ip/immunization-requirements.html?fbclid=IwAR2Hvpt30jxcNSLlzT4gQNIRKxOn8fbb2yCCO0s8DFrRWqij9GDXnhbYIxo#:~:text=Religious%20%E2%80%93%20This%20exemption%20requires%20a,provider%20on%20the%20immunization%20certificate

https://www2.ed.gov/about/inits/ed/non-public-education/regulation-map/tennessee.html?fbclid=IwAR1sWcpVKB-Hw-KoTGJ5tLitewfSyihNPCdQCp5Gb5aGtfT03Q5maM5Cpuc

Other Tennesseans shared some of their comments and experiences with this issue on social media.

Kelly said, “We were at Woodmont Christian preschool for almost 10 years and was told my youngest wouldn’t be able to attend at all and my pre k child couldn’t come back because of vax (status). They wouldn’t accept my religious exemption.”

Sam said, “We had a doctor discriminate against my daughter and refuse to sign off on her school physical.”

“We will see how this goes for our granddaughter,” Tim wrote, “Her parents chose not to get her last round of shots because we know too many people whose children have become autistic after the last round. Immunizations are not what they use to be!!!”
Children of God for Life has provided information about vaccines for over 20 years, specifically about the use of fetal cell lines in production and testing.

Many Christians who are pro-life know that fetal cell lines are used in the manufacture of many vaccines and this gives them serious concerns about injecting them into their young children, along with other side effects from the ever-expanding list of vaccines required for children. 

Currently, neither manufacturers or educational institutions have any legal liability for side-effects resulting from the administration or requirement for vaccines, leaving many Christian parents hesitant to take health risks for their children that seem unnecessary.

Has your child been refused services because of their vaccination status in Tennessee, if so please tell us at News@TennesseeConservativeNews.com