A bill put in front of the Illinois House that would have repealed a law requiring students to report their HIV status to school principals was rejected on March 4, the daily newspaper The State Journal-Register reports (sj-r.com, 3/5).

Currently, Illinois law allows a school principal to disclose the identity of a student infected with HIV to the school nurse, and also to his or her teachers. The rejected bill would have removed the requirement that principals be notified when a student tests positive.

“As a parent, I want the school officials to have every bit of information that they can have in order to ensure public safety for all the kids,” said Rep. David Reis (R-Willow Hill), who voted against removing the law.

However, Ann Hilton Fisher, executive director of the AIDS Legal Council of Chicago, said that lawmakers need to become better informed about HIV transmission. “HIV is not spread through playground accidents or bloody noses,” Fisher said. “It just does not happen that way.”

Rep. Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago), who sponsored the legislation, said she will try to revive the bill. “I don’t think people have a full understanding of what youth [are] faced with, the stigma that still remains around HIV and the need to protect people’s privacy around health issues,” she said in the article.