[NAGDU] Guide dogs in school districts

[Jen]

Hi Nancy,

I am not a guide dog user; I am a cane user undecided about whether I want a
guide dog, but here's my two cents.

Here's my personal opinion. When there is a choice between reliability and
accessibility, accessibility wins out every time. Although the liability
factor is important, denying anyone access to your school, based on guide
dog use, is illegal.

Jen
spiderweb1 at sbcglobal.net

-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Nancy VanderBrink
via NAGDU
Sent: Thursday, February 9, 2017 8:10 AM
To: Nancy VanderBrink via Nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Nancy VanderBrink <vandyvanderbrink at outlook.com>
Subject: [NAGDU] Guide dogs in school districts

Good morning all,

I come before your collective wisdom to put before you a question of access
versus liability.

A friend of mine is working on getting her bachelors degree in special
education and wants to eventually move into my states TVI preparation
program.  What is interesting is that rather than her being able to do her
student teaching in a  school that is on a bus line and that is also
relatively close to her university has nothing to do with the fact that
other students from her class are in these schools, as we thought.
Rather, it has to do with the fact that the superintendent of the school
district said that he did not want a guide dog in his school district.
What is interesting to me is that I am a service provider working with a
contractor that provides services in the school district. I serve students
in this district twice a month. I have had no problems with administration
or staff or students.
So, I am thinking that this comes down to a matter of liability and that it
is different because I do not work for the school district.  I am not an
independent contractor, rather I work for an agency that contracts with the
school district-and I just so happen to have a guide dog.  

So what I am thinking is that they, meaning the district, could say to a
potential employee 'we do not want you here because you have a guide dog'
but they cannot say that to me because I work for the agency they contracts
with and they cannot say to them that they do not want me as an employee of
that other agency in their school district.

So, essentially what I am getting down to is that this sounds like a
violation of this university students right to access. What I am wondering
is are they able to get away with this legally because they are dealing with
the premise of liability and the potential liability for the district if
that students dog were to bite a child.

I believe I have heard other stories on this list of people that have had
similar issues but I wondered if your collective wisdom knew of anything
that I could pass along to the student.

Thanks,
Nancy

Sent from my iPhone
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