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Officials with the Saugerties Central School District say they’ve additional affirmed the district’s dedication to inclusiveness and accessibility by setting a policy about using help animals, together with service animals and therapy dogs.
“The District recognizes the important of service animals and affirms its commitment to allowing the use of these animals by individuals with disabilities on school ground to facilitate their full participation in and equal access to District services, programs and activities,” reads the introduction of Policy 3160, adopted by the Board of Education throughout a gathering held on Tuesday, June 14.
The policy differentiates between service animals and “emotional support, therapy, comfort or companion animals” when it comes to accessibility and goal. Service animals are recognized as “any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual or other mental disability,” which doesn’t embrace different wild or home, educated or untrained animals.
“The work or tasks performed by a service animal must be directly related to the individual’s disability,” reads the service animal portion of the policy, and not included amongst these duties are the crime-deterrent results of the animal’s presence, or its skill to supply emotional well-being or consolation. However, psychiatric service animals which have been educated for a selected goal to assist keep away from an nervousness assault or cut back its results might qualify as a service animal on the district’s discretion.
Also allowable underneath the discretion of district officers are miniature horses.
“Thus use will only be permitted where a miniature horse has been individually trained to do work or perform tasks to benefit an individual with a disability,” reads the policy, which stipulates that they are going to be topic to the issues and restrictions of state and federal legal guidelines.
Superintendent Kirk Reinhardt stated final week that the service animals portion of the policy particulars what was already legally allowable within the district.
“By law, if a student who identifies as having a special need requires a service dog, obviously, they’re going to have that,” he stated, including that given the district’s current give attention to psychological well being, having a portion of the policy devoted to therapy animals was additionally vital.
“We’ve been talking about it a lot, especially with the (Covid-19) pandemic and anxiety,” Reinhardt stated. “And if it’s a service animal or therapy dog, it’s nice to know that we have the protocols and policies in place that we can meet the needs of students.”
The policy identifies a therapy canine as being educated, evaluated and licensed to work with a handler “to provide affection and comfort to individuals in a variety of settings, including schools,” noting that therapy dogs usually are not lined by the identical legal guidelines concerning service animals. Further, the policy notes that the certification of a therapy canine and its handler ought to be by way of a acknowledged group just like the American Kennel Club or Therapy Dogs International.
The policy additionally stipulates a selected course of by which a therapy canine should be registered to be allowed on college grounds. Reinhardt added that with both service animals or therapy dogs, the question ought to start on the college degree.
“What they need to do is go through their building, either their social worker, psychologist or building leader (principal),” Reinhardt stated, including that the method from there’s completely different for both the service animal or therapy canine class.
“If it’s more discretionary, like a therapy dog, then the request would go through the channels as it would for any other special request, like if a child needed a speech therapist or something like that,” Reinhardt stated.
The subsequent assembly of the SCSD Board of Education is scheduled for Tuesday, July 12.
