School board members approved a new district policy regulating the use of therapy animals in Siloam Springs schools at Thursday's meeting.
Assistant superintendent Jody Wiggins said that several faculty members and non-faculty members have requested to bring therapy dogs into the school to work with the students, so the district decided they needed a policy in writing to guide school officials through the process.
The district's special education department already has a therapy dog named Gabby. The standard poodle provides students with emotional support and helps increase their reading skills by allowing students to read to a non-judgmental audience. Gabby went through an extensive training process with her handlers Samantha Gutierrez, special education instructor, and Shawna Asencio-Porter, special education director, and is certified by the Alliance of Therapy Dogs.
Wiggins said the the district consulted with the Arkansas School Board Association and the school attorney to develop new therapy animal policy. Under the policy, the handler would be required to submit a detailed plan to the building principal specifying the purpose of the animal, how the animal would be used, the student goals and benefits. The plan would first have to be approved by the building principal and then sent to the central office for approval by the superintendent.
The three-page policy requires both the handler and the therapy animal to have proper training from an American Kennel Club approved therapy animal trainer and earn a therapy animal license. Handlers would also be required to maintain and insurance policy on the animal and provide proof of vaccinations.
The policy also lays out specific guidelines that must be followed when the animal is the the school building to protect children and adults who are allergic. The school would have to receive parental consent before children could be around the animal, and the animal must have direct access to exit and enter the building from the outdoors so that it does not have to be in the hallways.
"The idea is the students will come to the dog rather than the dog coming to the kids, and the amount of time the dog is in the hallway is limited," Wiggins said.
The handler has sole responsibility for themselves and for their animal, Wiggins said. He told school members that both the ASBA attorney and the school district attorney assured him the policy protects the school district from any liability.
Wiggins explained that the policy refers to animals instead of dogs because there is a potential for therapy horses. Miniature horses, defined as being less than 34-inches tall, have shown to make effective therapy animals and have even been trained to serve as guide animals for the blind, according to The Guide Horse Foundation website, www.guidehorse.com. They are a good alternative for people who are allergic to dogs and also offer the advantage of having a lifespan of 30 to 40 years, which is much longer than a dog, the website states. Wiggins said that the school does not have any plans to utilize horses in the future.
Wiggins said the district has a separate policy that regulates service animals. Federal law requires that the school allow students to have service animals under certain circumstances, he said. The school does not allow students to bring animals to school for emotional support, he said.
"We don't want to disrupt the instructional process," said Superintendent Ken Ramey, "Many people will tell you that there is plenty of research that shows the animals help our children learn to read or handle anxiety... or help in a counseling situation."
General News on 10/15/2017