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No Service Dog Allowed: Principal Defies Ruling

In violation of a ruling by New York State's Human Rights Division, the principal of W. Tresper Clarke High School stood in the schoolhouse doorway and refused entrance to 15-year-old John Cave yesterday, as long as he had his service dog with him. Cave is a deaf teenager with cochlear implants....


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When I first read the headline, I was appalled. But the comment about kids with allergies actually does make sense. (The one about the dog getting in the way during fire drills is a bunch of bunk - that's what the dog is trained for!)

But a child with severe asthma that is allergic to dogs could have serious problems if in the same classroom with this boy - even if the class is not at the same time, but the dog hair is left afterwards.

That is a tough call...

But they didn't even say whether there was a child with severe asthma allergic to dogs at the school. If there were, they could make sure that the dog and that child are never in a class together. And in that case, does the severely asthmatic child never go out in public, for fear of encountering a dog? Service dogs are supposed to be allowed in any public place, so what if the asthmatic child was in a restaurant with a service dog, or on an airplane?

I agree about the part about the dog getting in the way during fire drills being bunk...to that argument, you'd have to say wheelchairs and crutches might get in the way too...

I think the school is in the wrong here. This is a service dog, not a pet, and protected by laws and such. Provisions could be made to keep children with dog allergies out of range of the dog, if necessary.

Cindy

While I never had a hearing dog, I did look into it at one stage. I regularly hear of stories where hearing dogs are not allowed on buses and other public transport. It's another case of hearing being a disability which is hidden.

According to the law he should have been let in. Yes another boy might have allergies but what if he was away from teachers and students when not just a drill but an actual fire started. The dog would have been able to assist him out of the situation. Otherwise he may not have noticed until it was to late. Refusing him to take his service dog into the school was not only immoral but illegal. The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) can charge up to $20,000 dollars for the offence and you also get a federal (ada is us law not state)charge on your permanent record.... good luck getting a job anywhere after that happens.

Well, but actually I agree that a dog isn't the best solution here. A dog is a solution which actively interferes with other students' abilities to learn.

On the cruise ship we took last December, we were assigned a hearing-impaired room. It was equipped with flashing lights. If there is a deaf student in the school, they should install flashing lights in the bathrooms and in the classrooms. That way the student would know if there was any sort of issue. Otherwise you are put in a position where one student or the other "can't take an advanced math class" and you have to choose "which disability gets preference". That doesn't make any sense at all to me. There needs to be a solution where both students are equally safe and have equal access to every class.

I do understand you point of view but after you deny one type of service animal then it becomes easier to deny other types. What will happen one day when they are able to deny medical alert animals. There is no way for them to compensate for an individual who is reliant on one of these. Unless you know of a magical doctor who can detect a medical condition like a seizure, heart attack, and or stroke and is willing to lay on the person's chest and lick their face till they respond. This may sound silly but there are certain things that a service animal can provide that a flashing light can not. Until you live with one I don't know if you can really understand it. They don't just help you around occasionally they give you your life back in many cases.

It wouldn't be a magical doctor - but surely there are electronic heart monitoring devices that can detect heart issues and strokes?

I'm not sure its actually legal to dis-allow a handicapped person from entering a facility or public transportation with their service animal based on what I have read in the Americans with Disabilities act.

If there was a child with asthma or allergies so terrible that this would be a problem then of course some other solution would have to be formed.

I thought this principle was out of line and I hope they find a way to settle this and fix it so people in this young mans position don't have to deal with this problem. It would throw me off terribly to be treated that way.

If he attends a public school, I was under the impression that they HAD to accomodate his disability even at extra cost to the school.

they do have to accommodate his disability to his standard of living not theirs. I'm a disability advocate with a non profit group. I think that is why this gets me so worked up. A lot of people don't know what the laws are about service dogs and it makes it hard to get equal treatment. You wouldn't tell a person in a wheelchair that they are not allowed to bring their chair in because it would scuff the floor but then give them a floor dolly with padded wheels to push themselves around on would you? It is the same thing to take someone who is use to working with a service animal and saying well we will do our best to make sure you won't need the animal. It just doesn't work.