From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:An autistic boy who won a temporary court order to bring his service dog to class in his hometown school district Sept. 14 will instead be starting at a new school Sept. 16 nearly a half hour away.
Carter Kalbfleisch (pictured), 5, and his service dog, Corbin, will begin classes at the Illinois Center for Autism in Fairview Heights instead of his former pre-kindergarten special education class in the Columbia School District, said his father, Chris Kalbfleisch.
The remedy adds thousands of dollars to the cost of Carter’s education, with the district and the state picking up the tab. But while the district said it will pay for Carter’s transportation, it will not pay for the service dog to travel to the new school. The parents will instead have to drive the two to and from school.
Kalbfleisch said he and his wife Melissa are relieved Carter and Corbin will finally be in class together. But the parents have vowed to continue to fight their school district to win Carter the right to bring his service dog to their neighborhood school.
"I think it’s important for him to be in his own community with his local peers for him to look up to," said Kalbfleisch. "It’s very important for autistic kids for their communication skills and, later on in life, to get them interacting with people and into the real world."
The district, which had barred the service dog from its special education classroom late last spring, was ordered in August by a Monroe County judge to let Carter come to school with Corbin by the start of this week, while an ongoing court battle continues.But Kalbfleisch said Monday the district opted instead to send Carter and Corbin to the special needs school rather than try to accommodate the service dog in its own classrooms. The new school has already said it will take both Carter and the dog, and has been eager integrate a service dog in its program.
"We’ve heard some positive things from the other school districts that have used them," said Sandra Rodenberg, director of the Illinois Center for Autism in Fairview Heights.
The special school’s tuition is $32,350 per year, said Rodenberg. By state rules, the district’s share of the expense is capped at twice its per-pupil spending. According to the Illinois State Board of Education, the district has an operating expenditure budget of about $8,200 per pupil annually. Presuming that figure is used, the state and school district would each pitch in about half of Carter’s tuition.
In August, school officials argued in court that the service dog was not part of Carter’s Individual Education Plan and that at least one student in the class had severe allergies to animals.
Kalbfleisch said he and his wife agreed to the latest arrangement only because they feared further legal wrangling would delay Carter from returning to school by several weeks.
"The district took the position that it can decide the location where the services are rendered," Kalbfleisch said. "It was one of the things we really didn’t have a choice in the matter."
Christi Flaherty, an attorney for the school district, said the decision was made as part of Carter’s revised Individual Education Plan and declined to comment further.
The Kalbfleisches attorney, Jeremy Thompson, cautioned that the arrangement is only a temporary solution. He said the Kalbfleisches want to ensure that Carter is eventually mainstreamed into his home school district.
"One way or the other they want a resolution that protects Carter’s rights," Thompson said.
The Illinois Center for Autism serves students aged 3 to 21 and enrolls youngsters from area school districts whose needs cannot be met by their home districts. Rodenberg said the school strives to return as many children as possible into their local school districts.
"Mainstreaming is important for any child, but especially for children with autism," she said.
The Kalbfleisches first filed suit against the school district in early summer. The family says Carter experiences fewer tantrums and is better able to interact with the world around with Corbin and argues he would lose social and educational ground without the dog.
A school district is continuing to appeal Judge Dennis Doyle’s temporary order allowing Carter and Corbin to attend school together. The Kalbfleisch’s civil suit against the district cannot proceed until a decision is rendered on the appeal.
