No right to service dog in school
Family of nine-year-old boy with autism loses bid at human rights tribunal to allow dog in classroom
Nine-year-old Kenner Fee has no right to attend school with his service dog, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal has ruled.
Kenner has autism. He has special learning needs, and sometimes has “meltdowns” when he becomes overwhelmed.
His parents and other professionals say he is comforted by his black Labrador service dog, Ivy. She calms his anxiety and helps him stay focused.
When the Waterloo Catholic District School Board refused to allow Ivy into Kenner’s classroom at St. Kateri Catholic Elementary School in Kitchener, his parents appealed to the human rights tribunal. They said he needed his dog and was being discriminated against.
However, adjudicator Laurie Letheren ruled Thursday that the board’s decision “did not have an adverse impact on his right to meaningful access to the educational services provided.” She dismissed the Fees’ application.
Parents Craig and Amy Fee are “distraught,” said their lawyer, Laura McKeen.
They are concerned about the impact on Kenner, and are taking time to think about what to do next, McKeen said.
Amy Fee is a Catholic school board trustee. She observed the hearing, but did not participate in it.
Loretta Notten, director of education for the board, responded with a general statement that acknowledged the tribunal had upheld the board’s policies and decisions, but otherwise made no direct reference to the case.
“We continue to meet the needs of students on a case-by-case basis,” Notten said in a brief statement.
“We work alongside families to make student-centred, individualized decisions that we collectively believe will allow them to flourish.
“Student success is of paramount importance to us and we strive to bring each one to their fullest potential.”
The Fees got Ivy three years ago and have been trying since then to bring her into the classroom with Kenner.
During the hearing, the Fees brought professional evidence showing that Kenner was calmed and comforted by his dog.
Letheren accepted the evidence, but also accepted testimony from school board staff suggesting Kenner was performing well in class without Ivy, and that any problems he was encountering would not necessarily be made better by the dog’s presence.
She noted that the school board had its professionals discuss Kenner’s needs. They assessed him in a classroom setting, and offered “supports and strategies” to help him realize his potential.
Ian Ashworth, of the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides, which provides service dogs to address a range of disabilities, testified that service dogs help children with autism stay calm and improve their safety.
Letheren noted that Ashworth “had no
experience in educational programming appropriate for the applicant’s disability related needs”
The family said, and a special-education teacher at the school agreed, that Kenner’s behaviour and achievement at school went steadily downhill after he was denied access to Ivy.
His episodes of frustration and “meltdowns” intensified, and he would sometimes call for Ivy. Kenner had also tried to leave the school by climbing out of a window.
Letheren said no evidence was presented to show that the dog’s presence in the classroom would have helped with these concerns.
McKeen, the lawyer for the Fee family, said she believes this is the first time that a person with a disability has brought the issue of allowing service dogs in schools to the human rights tribunal.
Previous cases have determined that service animals are to be allowed in shopping malls, restaurants and other public places.
But school board lawyer Nadya Tymochenko argued that schools are different. Schools must consider the needs of all, including children with severe allergies to dogs, or who are afraid of them.
“Schools are not a place for public access,” she argued during the hearing.
“It would be impossible for a school to do its job if we couldn’t control who comes in and out of the school building.”
Lawyer McKeen said that this “precedent-setting” case now puts people with disabilities into “a situation where schools are going to ask you to prove the scientific merits of the service animal.
“It puts the onus on the person with the disability to prove that the service animal is a service animal … and then to prove that it’s needed.”
Representatives from the Ontario Autism Coalition also expressed dismay, saying that each school board will be now able to apply whatever rules it wants, and there won’t be consistency.
But McKeen hopes there is a different way to strengthen opportunities for students who require service dogs.
She expects that the Ontario government will provide more guidelines to schools on this issue, when it designs specific educational standards required to meet the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act.
“There is an opportunity to engage with the government about what it should look like,” she said.