Voluntary HIV/AIDS Screening & Counseling Program

Abstract:
This booklet documents a controversy over HIV testing that occurred in Lee County, FL, in 1992-1993. The Lee County Public Schools had offered health fairs in its high schools for several years, providing information and screenings. In 1992, it was proposed that HIV/AIDS testing be made available at the fairs, and it was included on a pilot basis at one high school. Following the pilot program, a study committee issued a majority report indicating recommendations for expanding the program (i.e., participants, legal issues, scheduling, feedback). The minority report, on the other hand, expressed concern with these recommendations, focusing on issues of parental consent, personnel qualifications, liability of Board members and employees, and potential harm to students. The majority and minority reports are followed by 14 pages of legal advice and the results of the school board's vote in March 1993 to adopt optional HIV/AIDS testing and counseling at high school health fairs. Because the story unfolds through a variety of primary sources--memos, letters to parents, committee reports, attorneys' recommendations, request for proposals from providers of HIV/AIDS testing and counseling--it is both engaging to read and potentially useful to other school districts grappling with similarly controversial topics. Throughout the report and on all sides of the issue, students' confidentiality rights are emphasized.

Author(s): GRAHAM, David S.; SIRIANNI, Margaret; RILEY, Patricia Ann; RIPP, Dick; WALLACE, Barbara; and ADAMS, James A.


Date Published: 3/1/1993

Pages: 62

Comments:
This booklet was prepared for the NSBA Convention in Anaheim, California in March 1993.

Location Code: 13020