Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1985. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - October 19, 1985
The city's Corporation Counsel, Frederick A. O. Schwarz Jr., said six weeks of testimony had produced no evidence justifying efforts to bar the second-grader, who has never been identified, from school.
"The expert testimony was that mere casual contact does not present a risk" of spreading the disease, Mr. Schwarz told Justice Harold Hyman in State Supreme Court in Queens. "There should not be any automatic exclusion of a child with AIDS."
But the lawyer for the parents said there was not enough information about the disease to let the pupil stay in school.
'They Don't Know the Answers'
"We don't know the answers," the attorney, Robert Sullivan, said. "They don't know the answers either. And when they say they do, they don't. We say the proper thing to do is to remove this child from school at least for this school year."
Two Queens parent groups sued after the city admitted the second-grader diagnosed as having AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, to school. A Board of Education committee had said the pupil could attend class.
AIDS, found predominantly in homosexual men and intravenous drug users, is a fatal disease that breaks down the body's ability to fight disease. Infected pregnant women can pass AIDS on to children in the womb.
Judge Hyman has asked for briefs by Nov. 19 and said he would rule after that.
Mr. Sullivan contended that the decision to let the pupil attend school was made by the City Health Commissioner, Dr. David J. Sencer, and that the Board of Education committee was a sham. The lawyer said the child could infect other pupils.
"We know it's unsafe for a child with AIDS to go to school because these safety precautions are not there," Mr. Sullivan said. Barring a child from school "stinks," he said. "But for God's sake we're dealing with millions of children here."
Temporary Injuction Sought
Though the parents originally sought a permanent injunction to keep the child out of school, Mr. Sullivan said a temporary order just for this school year could provide the time needed for more conclusive scientific studies.
David Ellenhorn, a lawyer representing the student, contended that the child did not actually have AIDS, despite that diagnosis by a doctor. Mr. Ellenhorn said the child recovered from chicken pox, received immunizations and was thriving in school, all indications, he said, of no AIDS.
"He or she represents no threat to anyone," Mr. Ellenhorn said.
He also argued that the child's identity must be kept confidential under state public health laws. If Judge Hyman ordered the child's name released, Mr. Ellenhorn said, "There would be no more doctors who would report people with AIDS."
"They'd go underground and remain invisible if we reach such a result," he said.
Mr. Schwarz also favored continued confidentiality. "There would be great harm done to any individual student where the identity is disclosed," he said. "There would be ostracism."
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