We told you last month about Ehlena Fry, a five-year-old Michigan girl with cerebral palsy.  With help from her community and school PTO, her family raised the $13,000 needed to acquire a mobility dog. But officials at her school district won’t allow her to bring “Wonder”, a doctor-prescribed, certified service dog to school with her.

Ehlena and her parents now have a new ally in their fight to allow Wonder to attend classes with Ehlena at Ezra Eby Elementary School in Napoleon, Michigan – the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan.

The Michigan ACLU has taken up Ehlena’s case.  The group sent the school district a four-page letter outlining why it felt that Ehlena should be allowed to bring Wonder to school, noting the following:

• The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that Ehlena be allowed to bring Wonder to school.
• Under Federal law, access to a service dog may only be curtailed if it can be shown that the presence of a service dog would fundamentally alter the nature of an activity.  Experience has shown that has not happened, when Ehlena and Wonder went to Sunday school, so it isn’t likely to happen at her elementary school.
• Other court rulings have held that a school’s requirement to make reasonable accommodations for a child with disabilities is separate and independent from a child’s rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).  The real issue, according to the ACLU letter, is her right to access school services using the support she needs and prefers to promote her own independence.
• A service dog, in order to do its job, must bond with its owner.  Keeping Wonder and Ehlena separated during the school day would hamper that process.  A recent court ruling found that an autistic child would “suffer irreparable harm” if separated from his dog while at school.

The letter concludes with an offer to meet and discuss the issue in order to bring about a resolution without resorting to litigation.

We’ll keep you posted as this story progresses.