Spokane Girl, 5, With Aids Teaches Others At School -- Mother Wants Other Parents To Know

SPOKANE - The only thing that distinguished 5-year-old Kara from her classmates on the first day of kindergarten was her surgical mask.

Kara, the first student in the Spokane School District with publicly acknowledged AIDS, wears the mask to protect her from illnesses that may be carried by other children.

"Really, the child at risk here is Kara," said Joan Kingrey, a school district area director. AIDS attacks the immune system, leaving people with the disease vulnerable to infection.

At 9:20 a.m. yesterday, her first day at the Willard Elementary school, Kara was learning how to line up to go the restroom just like everybody else, Kingrey said.

In a move that has been called both brave and unusual, Kara's mother, Joyce - who has asked that her last name not be used to avoid possible harassment - decided not to hide the child's disease. She said she wanted other parents to be aware of Kara's condition and to understand that casual contact posed no risk to other children.

"It would be really scary for me to have my kindergarten child come home and say, `There's a little kid in my class that says she has AIDS,' and I didn't want any parents to find out that way," said Joyce, who also has acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

It is the first such case for the school district. State law and district policy ensure confidentiality for those who want it.

Before classes began, district officials invited parents of Kara's classmates to attend an informational meeting about the situation.

"It paid off," Joyce said yesterday of that effort. "I am very thankful. The parents were wonderful. I'm really pleased with the response."

After school, Joyce said, her daughter told her she was having "a very exciting day" and had made two new friends.

Kindergarten teacher Patricia Habberstad said many of the students nodded knowingly yesterday when she brought up the subject of AIDS.

"The parents had done a really good job of informing (Kara's) classmates about her," Habberstad said.

Kara's mother and school officials had feared some parents would object to sending their children to school with a child with AIDS. So far, the parents of only one child objected, and that child has been transferred to another school, Kingrey said.

AIDS is still rare among children in Washington. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said that by June, the state had reported 18 cases of AIDS in children under 13.

Joyce, who likely passed the disease on to Kara before or at birth, said she believes she contracted AIDS from her husband, an intravenous drug user who died of AIDS three years ago.