dkeller@observer-reporter.com

Trinity Area School District officials will not allow the mother of an autistic boy to enter his school building if she brings his service dog.

On Thursday and Friday, Linda Dallatore went to pick up her 7-year-old son, Bradley, at Trinity West Elementary at 1 p.m. as usual.

When she arrived, she was told she could come inside but she could not bring Jiffy with her. She said her family received the dog on Good Friday and she's been taking Jiffy to school every day since to pick up Bradley.

A school official told her Thursday morning that she could no longer bring the dog to school because some students are afraid of dogs and others are allergic to them, Dallatore said. Dallatore said she wanted that explanation in writing and, until then, she would continue to bring the trained lab mix with her. She said under federal law, service dogs are permitted to go anywhere.

"Jiffy is a certified service dog that has full access privileges," said Karen Shirk, executive director of 4 Paws for Ability, the group that trained Jiffy. "They have to accommodate Jiffy. Schools think they are exempt from the law, but they are not."

Superintendent Thomas Turnbaugh said he had no comment about the specific case. He said the district considers each individual request for a service animal and its impact on others in the building.

Dallatore said she brings the dog only into the foyer and doesn't take him into the classroom, so Jiffy is never around students unless they come up to him.

She called police Thursday and told them she was being denied access to her special-needs son.

"Bradley was a little agitated because it was a change from his normal routine," she said, adding that the first-grader was fine after he got in the car with Jiffy.

North Franklin police Superintendent Rich Horner said his department is documenting what happened but can't do more because federal law is involved.

He advised the Dallatores to contact the U.S. Department of Justice and to document everything until a resolution with the district is reached. Horner said the district wants to meet with the Dallatores about the matter.

"Hopefully it's just a misunderstanding," Horner said. "I'm not sure what the district's policies are, but they have to follow the federal regulations, too."

On Friday, a school district police officer told Dallatore she could not bring Jiffy into the building, so she asked that Bradley be brought to her.

Robert Dallatore, Bradley's father, said he's disappointed with how the district is handling the situation. The couple plans to file a complaint with the Department of Justice.

Because they have had Jiffy only a few weeks, Robert Dallatore said it's important for Bradley and Jiffy to spend as much time together as possible to bond. That's one of the reasons they bring Jiffy to the school when they pick up Bradley.

Dallatore said Bradley's teachers have told her they've already seen a difference in the child since the dog came into his life.

She said teachers have seen no behavior problems, and he's also been better at home. Bradley was diagnosed with pervasive development disorder, which is a form of autism, when he was 3.

The family had several fundraisers to help pay for the dog, which cost $13,000. The group spends more than a year training each dog that it places, Shirk said. She said the dogs are well socialized and not aggressive. The group has placed 279 dogs.

"There's no reason to have fear of our dogs," she said. "Jiffy's a friendly lab mix."

The dogs are trained to help with safety. Jiffy can track Bradley if he gets lost. Bradley also can be tethered to Jiffy to keep the boy from running. The dogs also are trained in behavior disruption and to calm frustrations and anxieties.

Shirk said no one can explain why the dogs can relieve anxieties.

"I call it magic," she said. "Maybe it's a dog's divine purpose."

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