A private Pennsylvania boarding school established by the founder of the Hershey chocolate company says it was trying to protect other students when it denied admission to a 13-year-old boy because he is HIV-positive.
The AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit on behalf of the unidentified boy in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia last week, claiming the Milton Hershey School for disadvantaged students violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.
School officials acknowledged that the Philadelphia-area boy was denied admission because of his medical condition. They said they believed it was necessary to protect the health and safety of the 1,850 others enrolled in the institution, which serves children in prekindergarten to 12th grade and where students live in homes with 10 to 12 others.
