Three
students in Arkansas have been barred from attending school after
administrators began to suspect they might be HIV-positive,
according to local Arkansas outlet 5 NEWS.
Pea
Ridge Public School officials told the students, who are siblings, that they could not attend school until they
provided documentation regarding their HIV status. Officials had
previously found records suggesting that one of the students and the biological
mother may be HIV-positive, according to a press release from The Disability
Rights Center (DRC) of Arkansas last week.
The students, two of whom have
disabilities, returned to school the next day without documentation regarding
their HIV status. When they arrived, they were kept from class, and officials
asked their foster parents to bring the students home, the press release
stated.
The
Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits schools from
excluding students based on their HIV status.
“The actions taken by the
Superintendent of Pea Ridge School District are appalling and is reminiscent of
times past and the case of Ryan White,” Tom Masseau, executive director of DRC,
said in a press release. “The fact that the foster families have to provide
documentation that the children are HIV negative before entering the school is
unlawful and immoral.”
On Monday, the school district released a statement confirming
that it was requiring the siblings to provide documentation of their HIV
status, local outlet KNWA-TV reports. The statement reads, in part:
As reported in the media, the district has recently required
some students to provide test results regarding their HIV status in order to
formulate a safe and appropriate education plan for those
children. This rare requirement is due to certain actions and behaviors that
place students and staff at risk.
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