A Whangarei primary school has been "reminded" of its legal requirement to admit pupils with HIV.
A 4-year-old boy who was allegedly excluded from a childcare centre because of his HIV status is due to start at Whau Valley Primary School in July.
Ministry of Education representatives met the school principal yesterday after a situation last week in which the boy's two siblings, who already attend Whau Valley Primary School, were asked to stay at home.
A meeting to inform parents of the boy's condition caused the principal to feel concerned for the two students' welfare and he asked their mother to keep them home until a meeting with stakeholders yesterday.
Northland District Health Board and New Zealand Aids Foundation representatives also attended the meeting.
A ministry spokesman said the principal was "reminded" that all primary and secondary schools were required to admit pupils regardless of their medical condition unless a notifiable disease had been confirmed.
"Families of children with HIV are not required to disclose to schools and ECE [Early Childhood Education] services of their diagnosis as there is no risk posed to other children. HIV is not a notifiable disease," the spokesman said.
Early Childhood Education centres were private enterprises and were subject to different legislation than schools.
This allowed such centres "discernment over enrolment" so long as they complied with relevant legislation such as human-rights laws.
This distinction was made clear at yesterday's meeting, the ministry said.
The distinction is an important one given recent events involving the 4-year-old HIV positive boy.
The New Zealand Aids Foundation last week said the Mokopuna childcare centre, which operates on the Whau Valley School grounds, had excluded the boy because of his HIV status.
Mokopuna officials had closed minds and the boy was being treated like a leper, foundation director Shaun Robinson said last week.
However, the centre said it had not excluded the boy but had only asked his mother to keep him at home while a care plan was developed. The centre now plans to take the foundation to court, claiming that false comments had been made which have ruined its reputation, APNZ reported yesterday.
The Northern Advocate yesterday was unable to contact the chief executive of the trust that runs the childcare centre.
Mr Robinson yesterday said there were potentially other legal avenues that the boy's family could explore, although he did not know if that was being considered.
"At the centre of all this is a little boy and it's his needs that are most important," he said.