New York is fining three private Amish schools $2,000 per child for every day an unvaccinated kid sits in class all because of their faith.
The first bill is already $118,000.
Under the state’s own reading of the law, that number can reset every school morning.
That is the whole fight.
Old Order Amish families in upstate New York say vaccination violates their faith.
The state says faith is not an excuse. 👀
The schools take no public money.
They are still being billed.
Dygert Road was fined $52,000 for 26 children.
Pleasant View, also called Twin Mountain, was fined $46,000 for 23.
Shady Lane was fined $20,000 for 10.
That is 59 kids, at the maximum $2,000 each, counted as one day out of compliance.
Then-Health Commissioner Mary Bassett signed the order on December 15, 2022, and called the total conservative for that reason.
The schools are around Clymer, Heuvelton, and the Canajoharie settlement.
Joseph Miller, Jonas Smucker, and Ezra Wengerd run them.
Footnote 9 of the Second Circuit opinion in Miller v. McDonald records the state’s view: each day an unvaccinated student attends is a fresh violation and a fresh $2,000 fine.
Another day for those 59 children is another $118,000.
A 180-day school year at that rate is about $21 million.
The families say they cannot pay the first bill.
Their lawyer, Aaron Siri, told the New York Post they can cover it only if the state takes their land.
(I feel this is exactly what this is about, a land grab)
Some in the community have talked about leaving.
For decades, a parent could claim a religious exemption.
On June 13, 2019, after measles spread through Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Rockland County, lawmakers repealed it.
Andrew Cuomo signed the bill.
Kathy Hochul left it in force.
A doctor can still excuse a child if a shot would be medically harmful.
A parent cannot excuse a child for faith.
This sets a dangerous precedent in my opinion.
Senator James Skoufis called the old exemption made up.
Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz called it utter garbage.
The schools sued and lost in federal district court, then lost again in the Second Circuit.
The Supreme Court sent the case back after Mahmoud v. Taylor.
On June 30, 2026, the appeals court ruled against them a second time.
The families filed a new petition on September 28.
It is docketed as No. 26-438.
The Court has not said if it will hear it.
These are farm families where faith is at their center, running their own schools.
The penalty for keeping the doors open is a fine that can start over every day.
The case is Miller v. McDonald, and the petition is already at the Supreme Court.
ALT NY continues its assault on the Amish