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THE TOWN AIDS COULDN`T SCARE

Todd White, 18 and a hemophiliac, died last month of AIDS. He attended high school up until the final months of his life. There were no boycotts. There were no threats made against his family.

In fact, this affluent town of 16,000 embraced White and his family in their time of tragedy, and his illness united, rather than divided, this community.

White`s story provides a striking contrast to the experiences of AIDS-infected students in other towns such as Kokomo, Ind., and Arcadia, Fla., where there have been boycotts, prejudice and violence.

”People are going to have to deal with this in a rational mind,” said Gary White, Todd`s father. ”They have to open their minds. If we can do something positive in Longmeadow, then maybe some good can come out of this.” White, like many hemophiliacs, contracted AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, from contaminated blood products used to curtail bleeding. When he was diagnosed in December, 1985, as having the disease, his parents were leery about community reaction.

They had ample cause to worry. The previous summer, school officials in Kokomo, Ind., had refused to admit 13-year-old Ryan White (no relation), another young hemophiliac with AIDS. His mother had to go to court to get him admitted to school, and a bullet was fired through the family`s house.

Last month, when the Ray family disclosed in Arcadia, Fla., that their three hemophiliac sons had tested positive for the AIDS virus, parents boycotted classes, barbers refused to cut the boys` hair and the family`s house was burned down.

In both cases, the families were forced to move.

Longmeadow, a quiet, colonial town of broad lawns and spacious houses just south of Springfield, Mass., reacted differently.

First, the school board approved the state`s AIDS guidelines that allow AIDS-infected students to attend school unless there is an epidemic or unless they have open lesions that could infect other students.

Then Robert McKanna, the schools superintendent, informed the local media that a student had contracted AIDS and asked them to withhold the information for several days until parents and teachers could be notified. The media complied.

Medical experts were brought in to tell teachers and students that AIDS is a disease transmitted through sexual contact or sharing of intravenous needles. Finally, a meeting was held between the students` parents and medical experts.

The result was virtually no community opposition. School officials said they received several phone calls from worried parents, but no objections to White continuing to attend school.

”The faculty and the students were the key,” said Longmeadow High School principal Angelo Teixeira. ”They went into the community and said,

`Look, Mom and Dad,` `Look neighbor,` things are fine. You don`t have to get concerned.

”They were the ambassadors.”

Still, officials were apprehensive about how White would be treated by his classmates. While the school district did not disclose his name, he had been absent increasingly from school and it was well-known that he was the affected student.

Peter Santos, chairman of the high school history department, taught the first class White attended after the news broke.

”When Todd walked in, he sat in his regular seat,” he recalled. ”The question was, where would everyone else sit?

”Finally, the bell rang, and one kid went up to him and said, `Todd, it`s great to see you. Welcome back. Okay, Mr. Santos, let`s get the class going.` And that was it.”

As White`s illness progressed and he became unable to attend classes, teachers recorded classes for him, students wrote him letters, and teachers and students stopped by his house to visit. Last Christmas, students sent him presents.

Although he went blind in April, he completed all his required courses with the help of a tutor, received his high school diploma in absentia in June and was accepted into Fairfield (Conn.) University.

”Todd was never isolated or ostracized,” said Teixeira. ”The students always made him part of the group.”

Why was there no AIDS hysteria in Longmeadow?

A major reason, according to officials, was the education program.

Another was the makeup of Longmeadow itself. It is populated primarily by white-collar professionals, including many doctors, who were willing to believe what experts told them.

”This community is a well-educated community,” Santos said. ”When medical professionals said, `You don`t have much to worry about,` they listened.”

In addition, White was in high school when he was diagnosed, unlike other towns where AIDS-infected students have been much younger.

In fact, many here say White`s personality helped assuage fears. He was an honor student who was active in school activities. He was secretary of the Key Club, a member of the cast in the school play and had a paper route after school.

Though he was only 4-foot-7-he stopped growing at age 13-he never complained about his fate.

”He would never get bitter about it,” his father said. ”He even took growth hormones to get bigger.”

”Longmeadow is an example to the nation,” Suzanne White, Todd`s mother, wrote in an open letter to the town after her son died on Aug. 25. ”We pray that other communities will learn from this example, as AIDS will surely reach out to affect more and more lives.

”Todd is finally at peace after a long battle. It was a difficult fight, but never was it done alone. We, his family, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”