This special report is designed to clear up misconceptions about the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Chapter One provides the facts: how many children have AIDS, how AIDS spreads and how it doesn't spread, and who gets AIDS. While new developments occur constantly in AIDS research, experts are convinced of the central fact presented in Chapter One: AIDS is not spread by casual contact. Chapter Two describes how the AIDS crisis has affected schools thus far. It details how the U.S. Centers for Disease Control recommends schools handle students and employees with AIDS, and summarizes a variety of state and local responses to the disease. Chapter Three examines, in depth, how two local school districts dealt with children with AIDS, and shows how their radically different approaches produced radically different results in their communities. Chapter Four provides up-to-date information on AIDS litigation and includes predictions from attorneys about what school officials can expect next. Chapter Five explains why it is crucial to have an AIDS policy before a student or employee becomes infected with AIDS and offers step-by-step recommendations for drawing up a policy that considers school district needs. Chapter Six indicates why schools should educate their students and employees about AIDS whether or not they have an AIDS case on campus. It tells what the experts think: that schools have the power to stop the spreading of AIDS through the right kind of education. Chapter Seven reveals the unique problems colleges and universities face in dealing with AIDS. It examines what college officials and students have done to set up policies and educate their communities about AIDS. And it details the recommendations of the American College Health Association. Recommendations to help schools deal with AIDS are scattered throughout the book, and the report ends with a section of recommended actions every school administrator can take to better control the kind of impact AIDS has on his/her school. Twelve appendices provide numerous guidelines, statements, directories and other resources. (RH)