Just sick! Service dog not allowed in school!

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

Documentation not withstanding, I can't believe that anyone involved in the administration of a school would be so stupid as to threaten to take a service dog to the pound.

At the very least, withold placement until the documents can arrive. If he gets fired, that his own fault for being shortsighted.

[joanna71985]

Wow! I can't believe they wouldn't allow the dog!

[hobie16]

(If anybody wants a history lesson on school litigation and special ed to illustrate how it would apply to this case, I can give it to you. Yay grad school!)

Look up the Felix case in Hawaii. Basically the schools were run by the federal court because they had treated special needs kids so crappy.

[felinefan]

Schools used to be the paragon of excellence, a guarantee of success in life, and all else that made America great. Now our educational system turns out kids who are barely literate, have no job skills, and can't compete in the job market. Schools have become a laboratory for the higher ups to see how many rights they can take away; here are some recent and not-so-recent examples of how schools are taking extremem measures to promote their agenda:

A 6 year old boy was threatened with suspension from school for wearing his hair in a Mohawk-like cut. I saw the video yesterday on MSNBC.com, and it's barely discernable. The principal insisted that it was "disruptive".

A girl brought brownies from home to share with her 3rd grade class; she was punished for having a knife to cut the brownies with her.

Another kid brought cupcakes to school for a birthday party, and ran afoul of the school's "no junk foods" ban.


There have been similar cases involving kids wearing jewelry or clothing that identified them as belonging to a religious or cultural group, and had been banned from school, despite these children's being model students.

Teachers have gotten caught up in similar witch-hunts, because of a misapplication of a term, an ill-thought-out example, or even hugging a child for doing well on a test.

Much as I appreciate my education, these days it's getting more dangerous and less advantageous to send kids to public schools. I'm all for homeschooling, but they're trying to ban that, too. Must be because kids who are home schooled do way better on standardized tests than public school kids, making the public school look bad. I know some people who homeschool, and their kids are like 4 grade levels ahead of their peers.

[EeyoresButterfly]

Felinefan: While I agree that there is always room for improvement , I don't share the negative attitude of schools that you do. Schools are a reflection of our society, and unfortunately some of the examples you cited are a direct result of litigation. No junk food is in response to childhood obesity and parent outcry against the amount of junk food being served. Getting in trouble for hugging is due recent cases of sexual harassment on the part of teachers and overzealous parents who read too much into a simple gesture. It's one of the reasons so few male teachers will teach elementary school. I'm in grad school right now to teach elementary and special ed, and we have had whole sections of classes devoted to the legal aspect of education and how to avoid litigation. We have to document everything we do and take every possibility into consideration. Just to student teach I have to carry $2 million in insurance just in case something happens.

I admit the mohawk example and jewelry examples are extreme, but they are hardly representative of every school. Remember, the news doesn't report on those wonderful schools that do their best to help all the kids. The school in the town where I am going to university is wonderful. People move here for our autism and special ed programs, and they are consistently accredited with distinction by the state.

It's also untrue that states are banning homeschooling. What you are referring to is a child abuse case that involved homeschooling. There is a little known, unenforced law in California that states that children must be taught by an accredited teacher (note: it does not say that they must be in schools). In this case of child abuse, the children were also homeschooled. The judge ruled against the family using this law as a way of keeping oversight on the family. That is one problem with homeschooling is that while yes there are students who do well (mostly because they are gifted students, the reason their parents homeschool them), there are just as many children who are not being taught an appropriate curriculum. They may be homeschooled because their parents have very strong religious beliefs and do not believe in the curriculum the schools teach. Many times these students do no have the social skills they need to interact with others when they get older and are being taught falsehoods. (I'm not saying this is true of every student, just a portion). What you are doing is known as referencing outliers, just because your friend's children are doing better than the average child in public school does not mean that every child will.

What we is more public support for public schools and better laws. NCLB is a good effort, but you can tell that the people who wrote it have no background in education. We need laws and policies that are informed and make sense. We need higher pay for teachers so that we can recruit more teachers and keep them. We need more administrative support for teachers. Did you know that the turnover rate is 80% by the five year mark? The job is stressful, there is not enough time to do what you need to do, in some places teachers' children qualify for free and reduced lunches, and we are under constant pressure to conform to unrealistic standards set by NCLB.

[ktulu]

So, did the family say the school threatened to call the pound, or did the school admit to it? I'd be suspicious of what the family says at this point, but I don't know the whole story.

[hobie16]

For a Systems Engineering event on the aircraft carrier Intrepid, we decided do something nautical. I made up shirts with a skull and crossbones on the back with our company logo in one eye socket and text reading, "Only the best will do."

One of the SEs gave the shirt to his kid who wore it to school. Mom got a call that the shirt looked like a gang symbol so she had to take her kid a replacement.

When the SE called to tell me the story, I thought to myself, "SCORE!!!"

[EeyoresButterfly]

They interviewed the school, which did not deny the allegations and even stated the service dog was not allowed until they determined it was necessary. Nevermind all the documentation that would have been provided to ASDA as part of the qualification process.

[ktulu]

So, did the family just show up or call the school and give them any advanced warning? Just showing up with a dog into a room of 4 year olds is just going to cause a huge distraction. Yes, they have the right to their service dog, but common sense (and anyone who has spent time around young children) tell you that some advance warning is needed. There are kids who will understand, and yes, there will still be kids who jump up and go "doggie!" I can't say the school is 100% at fault here, some of the fault may be with the parents. I watched the news story, but it looks like they just showed up.

So, does a trainer stay with the dog the whole time? Who is responsible for the care of the dog's needs while the boy is in school?

[EeyoresButterfly]

It does sound like the parents just showed up, but perhaps they simply didn't realize that the school would need advanced notice.

According to the ASDA website, there is a week of home training with the dog with the trainer. That is probably why the trainer is there. On the preschool level, at least in my town, children with autism that severe require a para with them 24/7, and it is my guess that they would train that para how to handle the dog. This is just speculation without knowing more than what the article gave us.