Human Immunodeficiency Virus (AIDS)
NEPN/NSBA Code: JLCCA
Purpose:
The purpose of this policy is to establish appropriate procedures in the event that the Yarmouth School Department is made aware that a student or employee is infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (“HIV”also commonly called“AIDS”).
This policy has been adopted to assure that the rights and safety of all involved parties are preserved.
Policy Elements:
A. In general, the Yarmouth School Department shall provide appropriate educational opportunities for students and employment opportunities for workers infected with HIV just as it does for other students and employees.
B. If the Yarmouth School Department is notified of a student or employee infected with HIV by the parents/guardians, or infected individual if 18 years of age or older, and becomes concerned about the safety of that individual, other students, or staff, an evaluation by the Bureau of Health of the Maine Department of Human Services may be requested. At any time that the Yarmouth School Department is concerned that a particular student/employee poses a public health threat to others, advice may be requested from the Bureau of Health. The Superintendent may also consult, in confidence, with the attorney for the Yarmouth School Department.
C. If the Bureau of Health determines that conditions exist which suggest that an individual with a Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection is a health threat to the school community, the Bureau of Health and/or the Superintendent shall remove the individual from the usual classroom setting or work area until other arrangements can be made or until the Bureau of Health determines that the risks have abated. The health status of an individual temporarily removed from that usual school setting in order to protect the health of the infected individual or others will be reevaluated at least quarterly by the Bureau of Health.
D. Current Maine law protects the confidentiality of HIV test results with certain statutory exceptions. Test results may not be disclosed to anyone other than the Bureau of Health without written consent of parents/guardians or the infected individual, if 18 years of age or older. Records containing information about HIVtest results and consent forms relating to test results shall be kept separate from other student/employee records. Only those persons given written consent by the student’s parents/guardians or the infected individual, if 18 years of age or older, shall have access.
E. With written consent of the parents/guardians or the infected individual, if 18 years of age or older, the school shall designate an individual or team to:
Serve as the liaison between the Yarmouth School Department and the infected individual, the infected student’s parents and physician and, if necessary, the Bureau of Health; and/or
Serve as the supervisor of the medical component of the student’s educational experience or employee work environment.
Any team member or individual entrusted with the knowledge of an individual infected with HIV must, by law, keep his/her knowledge of that individual’s status confidential, and access to information shall be limited only to those persons authorized in writing by the student’s parents/guardians or the infected individual, if 18 years of age or older.
F. Upon written request of the student’s parents/guardians or of the infected individual, if 18 years of age or older, a designated team member, usually the school nurse, will to the extent practicable notify the student’s parents/guardians, individual, if 18 years of age or older, infected and/or the infected individual’s physician in the event that the designated team member becomes aware that infections occur in the school population that may place an immunodeficient individual at increased risk as defined by the individual’s physician or Bureau of Health. The decision whether or not to remove the individual from the school setting will be made by the parents/guardian or infected employee and the individual’s physician.
G. Because of the inability to identify individuals who may be infected with HIV or other agents transmissible through blood and other body fluids, the Yarmouth School Department shall follow standard procedures for cleaning and disinfecting all body fluid spills. The procedures for cleaning bodily fluid spills shall be reviewed annually by all school staff members.
H. The Yarmouth School Department will seek to provide educational programs to inform parents/guardians, students and staff regarding HIV and all othercommunicable diseases even though there may not be students or employees with infection present in the school setting.
I. In any instance where this policy requires consent of the parents/guardians of an HIV-infected student, consent must be obtained directly from the student if the student is 18 years of age or older.
Adopted: May 10, 1993
Revised: ________