"School Kept AIDS Secret for 5 Years"

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1992. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

"School Kept AIDS Secret for 5 Years"

St. Louis Post-Dispatch (12/14/92), P. 1
Tuft, Carolyn

Abstract: A St. Louis, Mo.-area school averted the potential for discrimination and controversy by keeping a five-year secret that a child with HIV infection was attending classes. The parents of the HIV-positive child revealed the child's status to the Hillsboro School Board in 1987. The school officials, the child's teachers, and the school nurse in the Jefferson County district were the only ones who knew the child was infected. But last month the secret was disclosed. Parents, including some new board members, discovered the secret from a television news report, although they still don't know who the child is or what class the child is in. Consequently, the district held a hearing for parents two weeks ago. Many parents said they were more uneasy with the fact that they were kept in the dark about the child's condition than they were about the student's presence in classrooms. School board member Sam Rauls said, "We can't keep this locked up in the closet: We have to protect the rights and privacy of this child, but we also have to respect the rights of the district's other 3,300 children and their families." Hillsboro School Superintendent John Sucharski said the Hillsboro district had decided to keep the AIDS case secret basically because federal law had permitted the child to attend regular classes and required his identity kept confidential. According to Sucharski, the community was handling the news in a positive manner because of increased AIDS awareness and understanding. In addition, school officials said the HIV-positive child would have no impact on operations because precautions were already in effect.

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