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Staff Resources > School Board > Board Policy > 400 Employees/Personnel > 420 STUDENTS AND EMPLOYEES WITH AIDS AND CERTAIN OTHER COMMUNICABLE DISEASES AND INFECTIOUS CONDITIONS
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420 STUDENTS AND EMPLOYEES WITH AIDS AND CERTAIN OTHER COMMUNICABLE DISEASES AND INFECTIOUS CONDITIONS

Mabel Canton Schools
Adopted 2000
Revised:

420 STUDENTS AND EMPLOYEES WITH AIDS AND CERTAIN OTHER COMMUNICABLE DISEASES AND INFECTIOUS CONDITIONS

I. PURPOSE

Public concern that students and staff of the school district be able to attend the schools of the district without being infected with serious communicable or infectious diseases, including but not limited to, HIV, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), and Hepatitis B, requires that the school board adopt measures effectively responding to health concerns while respecting the rights of all students, employees, and contractors, including those who are so infected. The purpose of this policy is to adopt such measures.

II. GENERAL STATEMENT OF POLICY

A. Students.
It is the policy of the school board that students with communicable diseases not be excluded from attending school in their regular classrooms so long as their attendance does not create a substantial risk of the transmission of illness to students or employees of the school district. A procedure for minimizing interruptions to learning resulting from communicable diseases will be established by the school district in consultation with community health and private health care providers. Procedures for the inclusion of students with communicable diseases will include review of the educational implications for the student and others with whom the student comes into contact.

B. Employees.
It is the policy of the school board that employees with communicable diseases not be excluded from attending to their customary employment so long as they are physically, mentally and emotionally able to safely perform tasks assigned to them and so long as their employment does not create a substantial risk of the transmission of illness to students, employees, or others in the school district.

C. Special Circumstances and Conditions.

1. The school board recognizes that some students and some employees, because of special circumstances and conditions, may pose greater risks for the transmission of infectious conditions than other persons infected with the same illness. Examples include students who display biting behavior, students or employees who are unable to control their bodily fluids, who have oozing skin lesions or who have severe disorders which result in spontaneous external bleeding. These conditions need to be taken into account and considered in assessing the risk of transmission of the disease and the resulting effect upon the educational program of the student or employment of the employee.
2. When students with AIDS or HIV have conditions such as oozing skin lesions or spontaneous external bleeding, the school district will notify the Commissioner of Health and request that an advisory committee be convened to evaluate the student and assist the school district with a determination of proper educational placement for the student.
3. The school district shall invite the following members to participate in the advisory committee: the state epidemiologist, a Minnesota Department of Education representative, a pediatrician with expertise in infectious diseases and the student's primary care physician, as well as the members of the student's school district Section 504 Committee IEP team, superintendent's designee, the student's teacher and school nurse.
4. The committee will weigh risks and benefits to the AIDS or HIV infected student and to others, consider the least restrictive appropriate educational placement, and arrange for periodic reevaluation as deemed necessary by the state epidemiologist. The risks to the infected immune-suppressed student shall be determined by the student's physician.

D. Precautions.
The school district will develop routine procedures for handling blood spills at school and for educating employees about these procedures. The procedures shall be developed through cooperation with health professionals taking into consideration guidelines of the Minnesota Department of Education and the Minnesota Department of Health (last revised 1988). (These precautionary procedures shall be consistent with the school district’s procedures regarding blood-borne pathogens developed pursuant to the school district's employee right to know policy.)

E. Information Sharing. 
1. Employee and student health information shall be shared within the school district only with those whose jobs require such information and with those who have a legitimate educational (including health and safety) need to know and shall be shared only to the extent required to accomplish legitimate educational goals and to comply with employees' right to know requirements.
2. Employee and student health data shall be shared outside the school district only in accordance with state and federal law and with the school district's policies on employee and student records and data.

F. Reporting.
If a medical condition of student or staff threatens public health, it must be reported to the Commissioner of Health.

G. Prevention.
The school district shall, with the assistance of the Commissioners of Health and Education, develop or adopt a program to prevent and reduce the risk of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome in accordance with Minn. Stat. § 121.203 which includes:

1. planning materials, guidelines, and other technically accurate and updated information;
2. a comprehensive, technically accurate, and updated curriculum;
3. cooperation and coordination among districts and regional education agencies;
4. a targeting of adolescents, especially those who may be at high risk of contracting AIDS, for prevention efforts;
5. involvement of parents and other community members;
6. in-service training for appropriate district staff and school board members;
7. collaboration with state agencies and organizations having an AIDS prevention or AIDS risk reduction program;
8. collaboration with local community health services, agencies and organizations having an AIDS prevention or AIDS risk reduction program; and 
9. participation by state and local student organizations.
10. The program must not conflict with the health and wellness curriculum.
11. The school district may accept funds for AIDS programs developed and implemented under this section from public and private sources including public health funds and foundations, department professional development funds, federal block grants or other federal or state grants. 

H. Vaccination and Screening. 
The school district will develop procedures regarding the administration of Hepatitis B vaccinations and Tuberculosis containment in keeping with current state and federal law.

Legal References: Minn. Stat. § 121.203 (Health-Related Programs)
Minn. Stat. Ch. 363 (Minnesota Human Rights Act)
20 U.S.C. § 401 et seq. (IDEA) (Individuals with Disabilities Employment Act)
29 U.S.C. § 794 et seq. (§ 504 of Rehabilitation Act of 1973)
42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. (Americans with Disabilities Act)

Cross References: MSBA Model Policy 402 (Disability Nondiscrimination)
MSBA Model Policy 407 (Employee Right to Know - Exposure to Hazardous Substances)
MSBA Model Policy 521 (Student Disability Nondiscrimination)


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