(VICT) Bill passes to allow service animals in schools
- From: "Diane & Raven" <dlshotwell2@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <"Undisclosed-Recipient:;"@freelists.org>
- Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 16:54:09 -0500
VA: Bill passes to allow service animals in schools
Calder: Unsuspended
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2008/022008/02282008/359437
Bill passes to allow service animals in schools
Date published: 2/28/2008
NOTHING brightens up a Febru- ary day like a dog story with a happy ending.
This we now have, courtesy of the Virginia General Assembly and Del. Mark Cole,
R-Spotsylvania.
The dog in question is named Calder, a golden retriever-Labrador mix trained as
a service dog to aid 10-year-old Matt Hoioos. The boy, who attends Margaret
Brent Elementary School in Stafford County, is afflicted with x-linked
hydrocephalus, which injured his brain and, consequently, left him partially
disabled. The dog is trained to open and shut doors for Matt, turn lights on
and off, and pick up things his human friend drops. But Calder does more than
that: He helps Matt be independent and build self-confidence. Matt's parents
told The Free Lance-Star that when Calder is with their son, "he talks more, he
waves at people, he makes eye contact."
But Stafford school officials, not blessed with great powers of imagination,
failed to see a direct link between the specific help Calder provides and
Matt's ability to learn, so they refused to allow the dog to enter the boy's
classroom.
Enter Mr. Cole, who introduced a bill this session to add "public entities,
including schools, to the list of public places in which persons with
disabilities are entitled to the same full and free rights as other persons."
The bill sailed through the House and Senate with nary a "nay" vote.
In retrospect, it seems strange that public schools weren't required to conform
to the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Children struggling
with handicaps have enough challenges--they shouldn't also have to fight for
accommodations in the schools they attend and for which their parents' taxes
pay. Nor should those arrangements be left to the whim of school officials.
These are the same folks, after all, who give us "zero tolerance" policies that
can't tell a St. Joseph's aspirin from a kilo of heroin.
Mr. Cole's bill strikes a blow for fairness and equality. Once it's signed by
the governor, who reportedly favors it, Matt can go to school with Calder by
his side, and the rights of the disabled in Virginia will be enhanced. That's
not a bad thought on a late winter's day.
Date published: 2/28/2008
Best Wishes & Wags,
Diane & Raven
APDT#72225
http://AssistanceDogJournal.net
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Golden_Paw_ADC/
"My Assistance Dog is not my whole life, but she makes my life
whole"~D.L.Shotwell
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