Service Dog Not Allowed In Elementary School

Ontario's Human Rights Tribunal has recently ruled that a 9-year-old boy with autism does not have the right to bring his service dog with him to class. This ruling marks the first legal disposition of a dispute between parents and their regional school board that began back in 2014. Their son has a certified service dog, and they wanted him to have the animal in the classroom. The parents argued that the dog was essential to their son's education as the dog is able to control their son's outbursts and prevents them from happening, enabling their son to suffer less distractions in the classroom.

The school board, Waterloo Catholic, has rejected this argument and refused to permit the dog in the classroom. At the hearing, the school board suggested that the child was performing fine without the service animal and that its presence would not address the issues that the child was experiencing in the classroom.