A private school in North Carolina has reportedly been hit by the states worst chickenpox outbreak in over two decades.

Buncombe Countys health department suggested that parents claiming religious exemptions to the states vaccination requirements have contributed to the outbreak at the Asheville Waldorf School, CNN reports .

As of Friday, officials documented at least 36 chickenpox cases at the school, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times .

State data indicate that many parents at the school have claimed religious objections to North Carolinas vaccination requirements. The school has one of the highest recorded rates of religious exemptions to vaccines in the state.

The school is asking kids diagnosed with the disease to stay at home. Since it can take 21 days for children exposed to chickenpox to show symptoms, classmates of contagious students are also being asked to stay home too, CNN reports.

Children who have gotten at least one dose of the chickenpox vaccine will be allowed to return, according to Dr. Jennifer Mullendore, the Buncombe County medical director. Kids whose parents can provide proof of immunity through bloodwork or a doctors statement will also be allowed to go back to school, she said.

The vaccine for chickenpox and all vaccines out there are safe and effective, she told CNN.

North Carolina law requires every child in the state to be immunized against certain diseases. Children are required to get two doses of the vaccine for chickenpox before entering kindergarten. But parents can claim religious or medical exemptions to the law.

For religious exemptions , parents or guardians simply need to write a statement describing their bona fide religious objections to the immunization requirements. The statement may be given to schools and day cares in place of an immunization record. The statements dont need to be notarized, signed by a religious leader, prepared by a lawyer or submitted to the state for review.

The Asheville Waldorf School is part of an international network of schools that use the Waldorf method, a teaching philosophy that focuses on creative learning and individual development. Generally, Waldorf schools are not affiliated with any church and dont espouse a particular religious doctrine.

But at the Asheville Waldorf School, which serves children from nursery school to sixth grade, a significant number of parents have expressed religious objections to vaccinations. Nearly 68 percent of the schools kindergarten class claimed religious exemption to immunizations last year, according to data from North Carolinas Department of Health and Human Services.

Of the schools 152 students, 110 have not gotten the chickenpox vaccine, according to the Citizen Times .

The school, which is incorporated as the Azalea Mountain School, has not responded to a request for comment. The school said in a statement on its website that it follows the states immunizations requirements strictly.

We also recognize that a parents decision to immunize their children happens before they enter school, the statement reads .

Overall, 5.7 percent of kindergartners in Buncombe County claimed religious exemptions to vaccines a higher rate than for any other county in the state.