Boy's GSD service dog banned from school - Page 1

   http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/40907000/ns/today-today_health/

I just saw this on the Today show.  Seems the crux of the matter is the school board only allows dogs that have been trained by  one specific organization, and that someone from this specific organization accompany the boy and dog during school time.  This dog was trained by a different organization. 

What do you guys think? 

someone in the school board has stock in that specific organization......pay-ola'

 I saw that on TV yesterday. I wasn't sure how I felt about it (didn't know if there was a good reason) until the story cited safety and  "officials don't see what the dog can do that the adults in the classroom can't." Um, seriously????  That riled me up a bit, as if you're the poor kid w/seizures, wouldn't you like a heads up that you're about to have one, especially in school? Maybe buy you enough time to go to the nurse's office instead of have one publicly? I was surprised to hear that they were even allowed to ban the dog, frankly. I remember dogs in my high school, though I can't remember what their purpose was anymore. 

Provided that the dog is able to be handled by the boy, I think that the school board is violating the ADA requirement that they make a "reasonable accomodation" for the boy's disability, that the school board has no expertise in assistance dog training and thus has no rational basis for their insistence that assistance dogs be certified by only one organization, and that the school board will lose big-time in court.

"someone in the school board has stock in that specific organization.....pay-ola'"

Stock in a non-profit organization?

I just think they're being idiots. 

I think it is a very sad situation for the child and his parents.
I doubt the boy will get to take his dog to class as it is such a complicated system we live in today.
As a parent my main concern would be for the happiness of the child and not the education, by this I mean what all children need interaction with other children.
This should be done in a special place under controlled conditions, not the public school system.
In my opinion the public school system is more dangerous and far more risky to the child than the dog is to them.

 I agree w/Moons.

I went to all private schools and one of the benefits is that they often didn't have the steadfast absolutes and don't have to abide by some of the "CYA" policies that public schools are bound by. 

It's called mainstreaming and it echo's real life. We don't put everyone in their own little disability areas when they are adults. 

At the risk of voicing and unpopular oppinion I have to disagree with everyone else.  This dog does not belong in school.  I have worked as a TA in special ed classrooms and have been training dogs since I was 16.  My mother and Aunt began the Autistic program in Lake Co IL over 30 years ago, have over 50 years combined experience teaching children with special needs and operate an extremely successful service dog training program.

This boy is of 6th grade age but functions at a kindergarten/1st grade level.  How many kindergartners are capable of being 100% responsible for a dog for 8 hours?  Most likely this boy has a one on one aid with him at all times in school due to his disablities and seizures.  Having a dog in the classroom adds to the general distraction of the rest of the kids and may very possibly cause some of them great distress due to allergies or phobias.  Plus because this child is not 100% capable of taking care of the dog himself it adds to the stress and workload of the teachers and assistants.  This dog can predict seizures, not prevent them, so what the dog has accomplished is for the parents to take a break and step away from the child, and allow the child a little more independance, this does not belong and is not needed in the school setting where the child is always accompanied by teachers and assistants.  This dog is a great gift to the child and his family but it should stay where it belongs, and that is not in the school.  JMHO

Sure, Non-Profits kick back all the time....