Fredericksburg.com - Disability bill advances in the Virginia Senate

Fredericksburg.com - Disability bill advances in the Virginia Senate

Disability bill advances in the Virginia Senate

February 23, 2008 12:16 am

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By CHELYEN DAVIS

RICHMOND--

Disabled children would be able to take service dogs to school under a bill passed by a Senate committee yesterday.

The bill requires schools to comply with provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The measure, sponsored by Del. Mark Cole, R-Spotsylvania, defines schools as public entities, which means they have to abide by the ADA, including allowing service dogs.

The bill was inspired by Matt Hooios, a 10-year-old Stafford County child disabled by x-linked hydrocephalus. Matt has a service dog, a golden retriever and Labrador mix named Calder. But he is not allowed to take Calder to school with him at Margaret Brent Elementary School.

Schools in Virginia do not consider themselves to be public entities, which by definition must comply with all ADA requirements. The ADA already requires public entities to allow service dogs. Without being a public entity, schools can bar service dogs from schools--in practice, schools allow some dogs on a case-by-case basis.

When Cole's bill first came up in the House earlier this session, Stafford school spokeswoman Valerie Cottongim said principals of schools decide whether to allow service dogs, although Matt's parents, Tom and Sharon Hooios, say their experience suggests that decision is made at a higher administrative level.

Stafford school officials have told the Hooioses that Calder isn't necessary to Matt's education and therefore not allowed. The Hooioses disagree. They say the dog makes Matt more independent, and that in itself helps him learn.

Frustrated with the school system's refusal to acknowledge Calder as an educational aid to Matt, and with the very fact that they had to ask permission for something they consider their son's right under the law, the Hooioses decided to take their problem to Cole.

Cole said he spoke to lawyers about the "public entities" distinction, and was told "that's really legal fiction, and if the school were challenged in court they would lose a costly lawsuit."

Cole's bill already passed the House of Delegates unanimously. It drew no "nay" votes in the Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee yesterday, although an attorney for the Virginia School Boards Association spoke in opposition to it.

Kathleen Mehfoud said schools should not be considered the same as other buildings to which the public has access, and that Cole's bill could force schools to make facilities, like their cafeterias and restrooms, open to all.

She also warned senators that Cole's bill could cost schools a great deal of money, because if a child in class with a child who had a service dog was allergic to dogs, the school would be required to create separate classes for both of them.

"There's concern it may be disruptive to the class. The dog will have to be tended to, may be going in and out of the class," Mehfoud said. "Permitting a service dog to school may conflict with the needs of other kids with disabilities, who have a very common disability, allergies to dogs. "Public schools are not places of public accommodation if you pass this bill you need to be concerned about what will happen to the rights of others with disabilities to have allergies to dogs."

Sen. Richard Stuart, R-Westmoreland, took umbrage at Mehfoud's comments.

"If public schools are not places of public accommodation, they should be. The inconveniences pale in comparison to the inconveniences these children have to go through every day," Stuart said. "It is really incumbent on us to recognize how difficult it is for these children in their daily lives, and to suggest mere inconvenience to others is unreasonable."

The committee passed the bill unanimously, and so it's likely to meet little resistance on the Senate floor next week. After that it will go to the governor; a representative of the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities said Gov. Tim Kaine supports the bill.

The Hooioses, with Matt and Calder, attended the committee hearing yesterday morning. They said they were pleased with the outcome, and just want schools to not discriminate against their child or any disabled child.

They said Mehfoud's argument about a service dog disadvantaging children with allergies was an unfair hypothetical.

"Everybody has a right to an equal education," said Tom Hooios. "You can't take away from my son's education because someone else has an allergy."

Chelyen Davis: 804/782-9362

Email: cdavis@freelancestar.com

Copyright 2008 The Free Lance-Star Publishing Company.