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CAROLINE COUNTY — The Caroline County Board of Education heard for the first time at their Oct. 7 meeting a proposed new policy and set of regulations addressing the use of service animals by students, staff, and visitors within Caroline County Public Schools.
The policy and accompanying regulations were introduced by Dr. Robert Willoughby, Supervisor of Human Resources, who explained that the sample was borrowed from those used in other Eastern Shore school districts. “We relied heavily on other school districts on the Eastern Shore that do have these policies,” Willoughby said. He called the draft policy “pretty standard.”
CCPS has no formal policy on service animals and currently does not have a request for the use of a service animal in its schools, so Dr. Willoughby said that now is “the perfect time” to establish a proactive set of guidelines before a need arises.
The purpose is to align CCPS procedures with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments of 2008, ensuring that individuals with disabilities are granted fair access and accommodations. The sample policy Dr. Willoughby presented defines both “disability” and “service animal,” clarifying that a service animal must be trained to perform a “specific task” related to its handler’s disability. Dr. Willoughby emphasized several times that emotional support animals would not fall under this definition.
Under the draft policy, a service animal is defined as “any dog that is individually trained to work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability,” and may include “a miniature horse” under certain conditions, provided the horse is trained and the facility can accommodate it safely.
The regulations accompanying the policy go deeper in describing how service animals will be integrated into school settings. They specify that individuals with disabilities “are permitted to be accompanied by their service animals in all areas of CCPS properties… where members of the public, students, and employees are allowed to go.” The regulations also outline handler responsibilities, requiring that service animals be under their handler’s control, vaccinated, and properly cared for by their owner.
The regulations additionally clarify conditions for removal, such as if an animal is out of control, not housebroken, or poses a legitimate safety concern.
CCPS Communications Director Sandi Barry noted that her office would assist in promoting the proposed policy and an upcoming public hearing, with a second reading anticipated for November.
Dr. Willoughby acknowledged that this is “new territory for us” and that introducing the policy opens the door to several what-if questions, such as a student requiring a service animal alongside another student with a severe dog or miniature horse allergy. “We will work through it,” Willoughby said.
