The Disability Rights Center of Arkansas (DRC) is advocating for three students who were removed from an Arkansas school because they may be HIV-positive, according to local Arkansas outlet 5NEWS.
Pea Ridge Public School officials learned of the children’s possible exposure to HIV during a summer evaluation of one of the children’s medical records, which stated that his mother and sister were HIV-positive. School officials met with the foster family of the children on September 9, 2013 and informed them that until medical documentation proved they are not positive for the virus, the siblings would be unable to attend classes.
The family sent the children to school the next day without documentation, and they were set aside until a relative was able to pick them up from the school. One of the children was unable to compete in his first football game as a result of the school’s requirements.
On Monday, Pea Ridge Public School officials confirmed in a press release that some students are required to provide test results in order to ensure a safe and appropriate education plan for those children, KNWA-TV reports.
“This rare requirement is due to certain actions and behaviors that place students and staff at risk,” the released statement says.
However, the DRC says that the exclusion of the three school-aged siblings, two of whom have disabilities, is “unlawful and immoral” and “it stigmatizes individuals with disabilities or their ‘perceived’ disabilities as there is no indication these individuals have HIV. There is only an unlawful fear that they do.”
The DRC stated that it plans to take the appropriate legal routes to ensure that the students can continue their education at Pea Ridge Public School.
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