Parents make plea to Hanover school board to reverse decision on service animal handler

HANOVER COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- A Hanover County Public Schools (HCPS) family is making a final plea to the school board to reverse its decision not to allow a parent in their son's classroom to serve as a facilitator for his service dog.

Matt and Angie Kreitz said their 12-year-old son Charlie needs his service dog at school to provide support for symptoms of his autism and panic disorder. But HCPS said the parents' request to be present in the classroom as the dog's handler is disruptive to the learning environment.

In July, Charlie was matched with his service dog Wendy through a non-profit, Canine Companions. His family then went through two weeks of training with Wendy, with either parent serving as a third-party handler.

The family said Wendy provides constant light pressure and performs dozens of other tasks to intervene when Charlie experiences panic attacks.

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"The constant anxiety and fear and panic causes so many crippling situations for him," Angie said. "So with school, it has always been the most challenging area of life for Charlie."

As Charlie entered 6th grade this year with Wendy at his side, the Kreitz family said they hope the situation will improve as they expect to continue serving as Wendy's handler at school.

"I'm willing to go to the school," Angie said. "I'm willing to go with Charlie to his classes and handle Wendy."

That's where HCPS takes issue.

In an August email to the Kreitz family, HCPS said that while Wendy was permitted to come to school, "HCPS determined that [Matt and Angie as the parents] will not be permitted to attend school with Charlie. HCPS believes that [the parents'] presence in school and in the classroom settings will fundamentally alter the nature of the sixth grade program."

In a separate email last month, Superintendent Lisa Pennycuff said HCPS believes Charlie is capable of handling Wendy alone. Charlie's parents disagreed.

"The concept of a third-party handler is not something that we invented on our own," Matt said. "In Charlie's particular instance, both his age and his disabilities do not permit him to be able to handle the dog independently right now."

The family said the school system also proposed having a few employees trained to assist Charlie with Wendy if needed. Matt and Angie said this is not enough.

"Being a service dog handler is not a part-time assignment," Matt said.

After having their request to assist in the classroom denied for months, the family and a dozen supporters brought the issue to the school board on Tuesday, Nov. 11, in hopes that it would reverse the decision.

But in an email sent to 8News on Tuesday and read aloud during the meeting, the board said:

"We have not denied any service animals access to our schools in accordance with school board policy. Rather we have provided viable options that would allow access to the service dog at school on a daily basis."

The board said the Kreitz family has chosen not to send Wendy to school.

HCPS also told 8News that while no other students in their schools currently have service animals, they had in the past. In those cases, the students were the animals' handlers.

At the time of reporting, Wendy can come to school, but Charlie's parents cannot. The parents said they hope that after Tuesday's meeting, the support and information shared will make a difference to the board.