Long Island School resolute against service dog
BY CARL MACGOWAN
Newsday Staff Writers

January 8, 2007, 9:55 PM EST

The standoff between a Nassau County school district and a family whose deaf son wants to take a service dog to school continued Monday, despite a budding state human rights investigation into the controversy.

East Meadow School District officials appeared to dig in their heels after the state Division of Human Rights began an investigation into the district's refusal to allow John Cave, 14, to bring the dog, Simba, to W. Tresper Clarke High School. John, who has limited hearing with the aid of cochlear implants, was rebuffed yesterday for the fourth consecutive school day.





The state investigation was ordered last week after news reports about the dispute between the boy's parents, John and Nancy Cave, and district officials. Kumiki Gibson, commissioner-designate of the human rights division, said she hoped the investigation can be completed quickly, though she conceded it could take several months.

Gibson, who took office last week, said the investigation is the first initiated by the agency in more than a decade. Normally, the division acts on complaints filed by the public.

"It seemed like there was a violation," Gibson said. "As soon as we found out about it, we started an investigation. ... It just jumped out at me as the kind of thing that our long list of laws calls on us to investigate."

If investigators find the district in violation of state human rights law, Gibson said, she could order officials to let John take the dog to school. She also could seek monetary damages for the family or order the district to rewrite its policies governing animals in school. The district has the right to appeal, she said.

District superintendent Robert Dillon did not return phone calls requesting comment yesterday. The district has not explained its decision.

Nancy Cave said she was frustrated with the pace of the state investigation. "Another two or three weeks is what they're telling me," she said. "I'm not happy with the response. ... Personally, I think the governor should call Dillon."

School officials have said the family must obtain permission from the district's committee on special education before John can take Simba to class. The Caves say they requested permission more than a year ago in anticipation of getting a service dog. They believe John and Simba must be together around the clock in order to bond.

The family obtained Simba two weeks ago. The dog has been trained to alert John to potential danger, such as smoke and fire alarms.

In what has become a daily ritual, John approached the school yesterday with Simba and was met at the main entrance by Principal Timothy Voels, who told him the dog was not allowed in the building. With a CNN television crew taping the encounter from about 80 yards away, John handed the leash to his mother, who took the yellow Labrador retriever to the family car.

John and his twin sister, Jessica, then walked into the school.

Also yesterday, a spokesman for Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) said the congresswoman is monitoring the dispute. The Cave family wrote to McCarthy, requesting assistance, spokesman George Burke said. "We received the letter and we are reviewing the situation," he said. "If it turns out the child is being wronged, then obviously we will step in."

from The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/11/nyregion/11deaf.html?_r=2&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
State Says Deaf Student May Take Service Dog to School

By WINNIE HU
Published: March 11, 2008
More than a year after the East Meadow School District in Nassau County barred a deaf high school student from taking his service dog to school, a state official ruled on Monday that the district had violated the state’s Human Rights Law.

John Cave Jr., who is deaf, was barred from taking his service dog, Simba, to school, but the state overturned the ruling.
The 21-page ruling by Kumiki Gibson, the commissioner of the Division of Human Rights, found that students with disabilities were entitled to have a service dog with them in school under state law and ordered the East Meadow district to change its policy immediately.

In a phone interview, Commissioner Gibson said the ruling set a precedent for public school districts across the state, though she currently knew of no other district where the issue had been raised. “State law provides for an absolute right to students with disabilities to use a guide, hearing or service dog in school,” she said.

The Division of Human Rights began investigating East Meadow’s policy after learning that John Cave Jr., now 15, had been denied permission to take his dog — a yellow Labrador retriever named Simba — to his classes at W. Tresper Clarke, a combined middle and high school campus with 1,500 students.

Leon J. Campo, the East Meadow schools superintendent, said that the district had reached its decision after concluding that having a dog in school would provide no instructional benefit to the student, and could pose a health risk to students with severe allergies and create safety issues during fire drills and practice lockdowns.

“We are responsible for all the students in our care,” he said. “You really have to think health and safety first, and then you educate.”

Mr. Campo said that the district housed a county program for hearing-impaired students and that none of those students had requested the presence of a service dog.

Carol Melnick, a lawyer for the district, said that the ruling would be appealed in State Supreme Court, automatically staying the order for the change of policy.

John Cave’s mother, Nancy, said that her son, who has cochlear implants, was trained to handle the dog and that air filters could be installed for students with allergies. She said that Simba accompanied her son almost everywhere, alerting him to sounds he cannot hear, like fire alarms or someone calling his name.

In January 2007, the Cave family filed a federal lawsuit against the district over the issue, seeking $150 million in damages for a violation of John Jr.’s civil rights. A federal court later dismissed the case, saying that the family had not pursued all its options with the school district.

Paul J. Margiotta, the family’s lawyer, said on Monday that the family planned to file a state lawsuit against the district within a week, claiming $150 million for violation of civil rights.

from Gothamist
http://gothamist.com/2008/03/12/no_dogs_allowed.php
No Service Dog Allowed: Principal Defies Ruling
In violation of a ruling by New York State's Human Rights Division, the principal of W. Tresper Clarke High School stood in the schoolhouse doorway and refused entrance to 15-year-old John Cave yesterday, as long as he had his service dog with him. Cave is a deaf teenager with cochlear implants, and this week, the state's Human Rights Division Commissioner Kumiki Gibson declared the school violated two provisions of the Human Rights law (PDF) and ordered that Cave and his service dog Simba be allowed in school.

Normally, when the HRD hands down a decision, it's followed. However, East Meadow School District Superintendent Leon Campo said the Nassau County school district will hold out for a court order before it will admit Cave's dog Simba. Principal Timothy Voels and a sign language translator were waiting for Cave and Simba at the entrance and laid down the law, so the teen and his service dog went home without attending any classes yesterday.

According to Newsday, Simba is "trained to alert Cave to noises and oncoming vehicles. But school officials think the Labrador Retriever could aggravate or serve as a distraction to students with severe allergies and would pose a danger during fire and emergency lockdown drills. Cave's family countered that the 1,500-student school could be outfitted with air filters. They are also filing a lawsuit for $150 million against the school district for violation of his human rights.