Tom Banks is the principal of a large elementary school in an urban district. The school includes students from kindergarten through sixth grade. The district requires all students to be immunized before enrolling in school. Two kindergarten children, whose parents hold sincere and genuine religious beliefs against immunization, were not allowed to enroll. The parents, who were Jewish, based their belief on a passage from the Bible that they interpreted as forbidding immunization. The parents requested an exemption. Based on information Banks received from a local rabbi, nothing in Jewish teaching prohibits immunization for children.

1. Is an exemption warranted? Why or why not?

2. How should Banks respond to the parents' request?

4. What is the relative weight of parental rights versus the powers of the school ordistrict?

5. If you were facing this issue, how would you respond?