Naples, FL: Boy and Dog Have Their Day In Court

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Boy and Dog Have Their Day In Court

By for Naple News, Florida.

http://tinyurl.com/s2edh

The way Langer sees it, the Collier County School District has abandoned 11-year-old .

"They put his life in danger solely because the district did not want to have a service animal," she said.

The assertion by Langer, the attorney for the family, opened up an administrative hearing Monday to determine if the Collier County School Board violated 's rights by refusing to let him bring his service dog, Bo, to school.

The hearing, which is going on this week at the Dr. Luther King Jr. Administration Center and is being conducted under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, will determine if the School District was negligent by not amending the Pine Ridge Middle School sixth-grader's individual education program (IEP) to allow him to bring Bo to school.

's parents, Bill and , claim the district was negligent for not providing a full-time school nurse at the middle school to administer 's epilepsy medication.

In his opening statement to the court, School Board attorney Withers said the district was doing everything to provide with a Free and Appropriate Education (FAPE), but its solutions were balked at by Bill .

"At the IEP meeting to determine if the district was providing FAPE, Mr. arrived with a huge chip on his shoulder and said if he did not get what he wanted, he would take us to a due process hearing," he said.

"Our relationship has been adversarial since that meeting."

The family made attempts to meet with school officials about 's educational needs after he had two seizures, including one at school, and had been diagnosed with epilepsy. The family scheduled an emergency IEP meeting with 's team for Jan. 17.

Students with special needs have IEPs to set goals for the student's specific learning and behavior, and describe what the district will provide to meet those goals. The goals have to be reasonable and can be measured.

During the meeting, the district denied amending 's IEP to include acknowledgment of his medical diagnosis of epilepsy or to provide him access to his service dog, Bill said.

Following that denial, Bill and asked for a due-process hearing under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. They have pulled from school and have elected to have him home-schooled until the issue is resolved.

Potantus, 's severity aide who left the district in January, testified Monday that she was the only member of the IEP team to vote for the service dog.

"I believe the purpose of education is to prepare children for the future," she said. "(Bo) would help learn to be independent."

Potantus, who had been with for 3½ years at the time she left the district, testified that she met the bus to make sure made it to his classroom each day. She said Bo would eliminate that need.

Potantus described the December 2005 day that had a seizure in school.

"His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he was salivating. He was jerking. I put my hand on his chest and spoke to him reassuringly," she said.

Bill and assert the dog would help their son in the event he had a seizure. Bo has been trained to hold down when he seizes.

The hearing resumes today and is expected to last three to five days.

It will not be the last time the es and the district tangle over this issue.

The es have also filed a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights in Atlanta. The 23-page complaint alleges that 's civil rights were violated under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, as well as his right to a free and appropriate education.

The Office for Civil Rights will not act on the complaint until the administrative hearing is complete.

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