It is the policy of the Springboro Community City School District to provide reasonable accommodations for special needs students. If those special needs include the use of an assistance animal, the Board of Education wishes to make that accommodation whenever possible.

Placement of an animal in the regular classroom or special needs classroom may be approved by the Superintendent after recommendation from the IEP team. The IEP team must take into consideration the needs of the special student and also those needs of other students in the classroom. If another student has an allergy from animals, another classroom must be selected. The needs of the student with an animal assistant shall not take precedence over a student who has allergic reactions to animals.

The assistance animal shall be house broken. The parents of the student with the assistance animal shall inform the building principal how the animal has been taught to indicate a need to move outside the building. Special dietary needs of the animal must be provided by the parents and/or guardian of the student with the assistance animal. Water dishes, food dishes or any other item needed by the animal must also be provided by the parent. Any instruction on the control, use, or maintenance of the animal shall be provided to the District.

The parents of the student will be advised by the building principal, prior to arrival at school, that Ohio State Law requires a bright strobe light and very loud piercing horn to alert students of a need to evacuate the building. The assistance animal needs to be able to at least tolerate this signal.

The District, may on request, require parents to provide written documentation from a certified and licensed veterinarian that the animal is in excellent health and in possession of all required inoculations.

The animal must be professionally trained and/or licensed.

Adopted 1/10/06