SAN DIEGO [February 4, 2026] Free Now Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting medical freedom and civil liberties, has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Poway Unified School District (PUSD), seeking to protect disabled children’s access to school when vaccination could endanger their health.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, argues that PUSD’s policies violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act by denying reasonable medical exemptions and shutting disabled students out of the classroom.

The case centers on a 10-year-old boy with severe kidney dysfunction and a family history of serious vaccine reactions. His mother, has worked for years with doctors to keep him safe and in school. The boy previously had a California medical exemption issued in 2017, but it was revoked after the issuing doctor faced discipline from the state medical board. When his mother could not find a new in-state doctor willing to take on the risk, she obtained a medical exemption from an out-of-state physician who knows the boy’s condition and history.

PUSD refused to accept that exemption, insisting that only California-licensed doctors “count” for medical exemptions. The lawsuit contends that this policy ignores federal disability law, which requires schools to make reasonable accommodations for disabled students and does not limit those accommodations to in-state physicians.

“As a mom, my first job is to protect my son,” said the mother of the 10-year-old boy, “I shouldn’t have to choose between his health and his education.”

Free Now Foundation’s attorney of record, Jessica R. Barsotti, emphasized that the case is about safeguarding families’ ability to make medical decisions for their children. “Parents and grandparents of disabled children deserve to know that federal law is on their side,” Barsotti said. “Schools cannot use technicalities to override the judgment of qualified doctors or to push medically fragile kids out of the classroom.”

The complaint explains that the boy is currently attending school under an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for a speech impairment, set to expire in November 2026. Once that IEP ends, PUSD has warned that he will be barred from in-person school if he remains unvaccinated, even though his kidney condition makes vaccination unsafe. The lawsuit argues that allowing him to attend school with a medical exemption creates no undue burden on the district and that he poses no threat to others, as shown by his current attendance.

Free Now Foundation, founded in 2023, represents tens of thousands of parents and grandparents who want to be part of important medical decisions affecting their children and grandchildren. Many of these families are raising or caring for disabled children with complex medical needs, and they are deeply concerned that rigid school vaccination rules are overriding the advice of the doctors they trust.

The lawsuit asks the court to:

• Confirm that school districts must follow the ADA and Section 504 when deciding whether disabled students can attend school safely and with accommodations.
• Order PUSD to accept medical documentation from qualified physicians, including those licensed in other states, when a disability makes vaccination unsafe.
• Award damages for the emotional and educational harm caused to the boy and his family.
• Require PUSD to put in place proper ADA procedures, including trained coordinators and clear grievance processes, so families know where to turn when their children’s rights are threatened.

The case, Free Now Foundation et al. v. Poway Unified School District, could shape how schools across California treat disabled students whose medical conditions make vaccination risky. For many parents and grandparents, it raises a simple but crucial question: Who gets to decide what is safe for a disabled child—their doctors and family, or the school district?

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Thanks to our generous donors, Free Now Foundation has funded more than a year of legal work on this strategic and important case. We are thrilled to have filed the case in early December, 2025.