We will have to wait until later this month or longer to find out the result of a federal investigation alleging that Portsmouth High School discriminated against a student stricken with Lyme disease.

A recent Herald story reported that the father of the student filed a complaint alleging high school officials reneged on an education agreement to cover his son while he recovered from the sometimes fatal bacterial disease -- if left untreated, infection can spread to joints, the heart and the nervous system.

The father then contacted the U.S. Department of Education, which decided to launch a formal investigation through its Office of Civil Rights.

In the wake of the story, Patricia Smith, the president of the New Jersey-based Lyme Disease Association, contacted the Herald to share her concerns about a growing problem -- the amount of misinformation and outright ignorance about the disease among school officials across the country. Smith said she has unique qualifications to talk about the subject: as a state education official in New Jersey and the mother of a child who missed four years in school due to the disease.

"Districts discriminate against students with Lyme primarily for either of two reasons -- they do not understand Lyme disease and accuse students of laziness, faking illness, or wanting to remain out of school," Smith said. "Or they do understand Lyme disease and do not want to expend the funds necessary to provide the accommodations which are essential to the well being of these children."

Smith said that cities such as Greenwich, Conn., and Ipswich, Mass., and states like New Jersey have developed special curriculums for Lyme-stricken students, and there is no shortage of studies showing just how debilitating the disease is.

In 2005, New Hampshire ranked ninth in the country per capita for the disease, and it would be wise for school teachers and officials at all levels in the region to be as informed and prepared as possible -- it's likely they will have to deal with this difficult situation again and again.

-- Portsmouth Herald