The mother of a 14-year-old girl is suing an Indianapolis School district saying that it discriminated against her daughter because of her HIV status.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday against Washington Township Schools in Indianapolis saying that that girl “on an almost daily basis, endured continuing harassment, teasing, name calling and bullying by her fellow students,” because she had HIV virus and the school officials did nothing to prevent those situations.

The girl was diagnosed with HIV in 2006. In 2007, she told a friend about her situation and the bullying began shortly thereafter as word spread throughout the school.

One quick example: the girl’s soccer coach asked her if she had AIDS, then told her the team could use her status to its advantage because “the other team will be afraid.”

The mother withdrew her daughter from the school in September and is now teaching her at home. She said that the school didn’t do enough to stop the harassment and sometimes ignored her complaints. This led to her daughter’s stress-related seizures.

Superintendent James Mervilde did not comment on the lawsuit but said the district has strict rules prohibiting bullying and harassment, and policies with specific precautions and cleaning up and handling bodily fluids. These rules have been implemented since the case of HIV-positive Ryan White who fought for the right to attend school two decades ago. He died in 1990 after contracting HIV through a blood transfusion to treat his hemophilia. His mother, Jeanne White Ginder now speaks to groups about the importance of teaching children about HIV and AIDS in schools.

“There is no need to panic. People need to know it's not a death sentence,” she said.