December 5, 2011 | Sex & Society

HIV+ student not admitted to private school

A 13-year-old honor student was told he could not attend the Milton Hershey School because he had HIV. The school is now facing a lawsuit over its decision to ban a child.

"I feel no other teenager should go through this, being denied just because they have HIV," the boy said.

Milton Hershey School released a statement Wednesday saying that “in order to protect our children in this unique environment, we cannot accommodate the needs of students with chronic communicable diseases that pose a direct threat to the health and safety of others.”

It will now have to defend its decision in court.

"If you have a school that’s open to the public, then it’s open to the public," countered Ronda Goldfein from the AIDS Law Project. "If you have a student that has a particular need and requests assistance, then you accommodate. You don’t simply say we don’t like you, we don’t like your diagnosis, you can’t come here."

"It makes me angry, like really, really angry because they don't understand how great he is," the boy's mother said. 

"They didn’t look at whether my client presented any threat, they just said 13-year old boy with HIV, oh no, that’s too dangerous," Goldfein added.

Hershey School Turns Away Boy With HIV [NBC]