(AP) – The U.S. Department of Justice says an Arkansas school
district violated the Americans with Disabilities Act in 2013 by excluding some
students until they were tested for HIV.
The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports the Pea Ridge School District
removed three students, all foster children, from school after it received
documents regarding the HIV status of a family member of those students.
They returned to school several days later, before the district received the
test results.
School district Superintendent Rick Neal says the actions were taken with
advice from David Matthews, the district’s attorney at the time. Matthews said
he feared staff members and students could be exposed to HIV.
The DOJ says a student’s HIV status isn’t a permissible basis for keeping that
student from a public school setting.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI