As New York's schools welcomed students for the 2026 academic year, the state's longstanding vaccine requirements for enrollment stood legally intact — a quiet but consequential affirmation of the principle that collective health depends on collective participation. Courts have repeatedly upheld New York's framework, grounding it in the broad authority states hold to protect children who gather daily in shared spaces. In a moment when vaccine-preventable diseases are finding new footholds across the country, the durability of this policy represents not merely a legal outcome, but a considered