By Matt Simonette

Staff writer

Rep. Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago) filed a bill Jan. 16 to repeal a state law requiring health departments to notify a minor’s school principal when the minor is diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.

“I’ve been operating under the assumption that when this law was passed, it was done so with good intentions,” said Feigenholtz. “But clearly, in the long run, it’s proven harmful to the very population it’s intended to help.”

Under Illinois law, when a student tests positive for HIV, the state or local department of health must notify the student’s school principal. The principal, in turn, must notify the school district superintendent, and, if necessary, may notify the school nurse.

Ann Hilton Fisher, executive director of AIDS Legal Council of Chicago, said that the law ultimately threatens to compromise students’ medical history and subject them to unjust treatment by school officials.

Fisher remembered, for example, one HIV-positive student who, when menstruating, was only allowed to use the school nurse’s bathroom.

“The fact that the school nurse, who should have known better, told her this just makes it worse,” Fisher said.

The law was sponsored by Rep. Penny Pullen (R-Park Ridge) and signed into law by Gov. James Thompson in the late 1980s. It additionally allows a principal to notify anyone they deem necessary that an HIV-positive student is enrolled in the school, so long as the student’s identity is kept secret.

John Peller, of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, said it’s time for the law to more accurately reflect current knowledge about HIV/AIDS.

“(Twenty) years ago the law might have met a need,” Peller said. “But we know now that activities that take place in classrooms and in schools do not transmit HIV.”

The law cannot be overturned in litigation, according to Fisher. The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accounting Act, which regulates the privacy of health records, does not apply in matters in which states mandate notification, so the change has to come at the legislative level.

She said the Chicago Department of Public Health has “not been finding the time” to notify principals, so the principal notification issue has rarely been addressed locally. But it has caused problems for students Downstate.

“For kids there, in small towns, it’s a double-whammy,” said Fisher. “Not only must they deal with health issues, but there is a possibility that their peers might find out.”

Feigenholtz added that the law’s repeal ensures that more students will be willing to be tested for HIV.

“Getting rid of (the law) removes a huge barrier to testing,” she said.

Illinois is one of five states that mandate disclosure to any school official, and the only one mandating disclosure to principals.