The town "wrote the book" on the subject in 1985 when young AIDS victim Mark Hoyle was allowed to attend the junior high, health services director Maureen E. Bushell says. But the policy has never been made official.

01:00 AM EST on Wednesday, January 14, 2004

BY MARK REYNOLDS
Journal Staff Writer

SWANSEA -- In a day when Americans were less knowledgeable about AIDS, Swansea's school system achieved national recognition for its savvy and compassionate acceptance of a child with the disease.

But even back in the mid-1980s -- after teen AIDS victim Mark Hoyle and his friends put Swansea on the national stage -- the district didn't give much thought to formulating its tolerance and common sense into a written policy.

That is changing with some recent prodding from the state Department of Public Health.

The Swansea school system is working toward the development of a formal policy, Asst. Supt. Susan Cote told the School Committee Monday night.

Last fall, the state asked Swansea and other districts if they could use help developing their own policies for dealing with HIV infection and AIDS in a school setting.

As the local director of health services, Maureen E. Bushell, puts it, Swansea "wrote the book" on the subject back in 1985.

That year, the town became the first U.S. community to voluntarily allow a child with AIDS to continue in school.

Meanwhile, across the country, Mark Hoyle's experience in Swansea was compared to the plight of Ryan White.

Like Hoyle, White, of Kokomoa, Ind., was a hemophiliac who had acquired the AIDS virus through a blood transfusion. But the superintendent barred him from attending school.

In October 1986, Mark G. Hoyle, died from AIDS complications. He was 14.

Bushell said the district has always complied with the state's guidelines and recommendations.

Of course, it allows children with AIDS or HIV to attend school.

It also guarantees confidentiality to children who inform the district that they have AIDS or HIV, Bushell said.

Simultaneously, the district assumes it might not know about children with AIDS HIV in the system.

"We could have youngsters in the schools that we don't know about," she said.

"They don't have to tell us," she added, "and if I knew I wouldn't tell anybody."

AIDS is a severe immune system disorder that cripples the body's ability to fight off infection.

It is caused by the HIV virus, which is spread through the exchange of blood and other bodily fluids.

For this reason, Swansea's custodians and nurses are equipped with plastic gloves and the training to properly handle and dispose of any blood from cuts.

They've always been ready, Bushell said.

Bushell said she received a compilation of guidelines from the state in 1991.

Aside from some minor changes, she said, the old guidelines are similar to the latest policy recommended by the state.

"Nothing's changed," said Bushell, who is leaning toward asking the district's administrators to recommend that the School Committee adopt the guidelines as a formal district policy.

"Personally," she said, "I can't see myself writing something that's better than what they have."