A Tennessee third grader’s parents are taking legal action against their school district for not permitting the child’s service dog on school grounds.
Douglas and Sarah Dietz have initiated a federal lawsuit against the Germantown Municipal School District for their child, referred to in court documents as M.D., who attended Dogwood Elementary School.
M.D. is a 9-year-old boy with a twin brother named N.D. The lawsuit states that both boys have significant disabilities that meet the criteria for legal protection under Section 504 of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and they are both nonverbal. N.D. has Down syndrome and an intellectual disability, while M.D. has a very rare chromosomal condition. M.D. is supported by an Individualized Education Program (IEP) and an Individual Health Plan (IHP), both safeguarded by federal regulations. The twins have two younger siblings who go to school in the same district.
The Dietzes report that their son M.D. experienced between 10 and 15 seizures daily at home, while his teachers noted minimal seizure activity during school hours.
The parents decided to head to Kansas in the spring of 2024 to get Herbie, a service dog, to help with the seizures. Herbie was trained to assist M.D. in living as safely and independently as possible, according to the lawsuit, and to notify others when M.D. experiences a seizure through various methods, the lawsuit states.
Sarah Dietz recorded her voice giving commands to Herbie as part of his training, and then added those recordings to an assisted communication device that M.D. uses regularly, according to the complaint.
The family stated in their submission that Herbie is trained to place his paw or head on M.D.’s or another person’s lap during a seizure. If he does not receive an appropriate response to his alert, he will nudge with his nose and pace back and forth more quickly if his actions go unrecognized.
The Dietz family reported that they proposed to offer training to the school district free of charge, but the district chose to decline all training opportunities.
The family reported that Jessica Woody, the principal of Dogwood Elementary School, held a meeting with the parents in September, during which she stated that Herbie “was not welcome” at the school. The filing reveals that a weekly report from school staff noted that Herbie seldom remained close to M.D., frequently interacted with other students, took food from others, sniffed at them, ran around, and did not comply with instructions. The Dietzes mentioned that Woody informed them their son was eligible for a service dog, but specified that it couldn’t be Herbie due to his behavior.
The parents contended in their complaint that Herbie’s behavior is not problematic and suggested that the school’s unwillingness to complete training might be the source of their frustrations. When they brought these concerns to Woody, she replied, “I truly believe that all the reasons for Herbie not being invited back have been thoroughly addressed.”
In their lawsuit, they pointed out that during the meeting, Woody made a puzzling remark implying that Herbie would act appropriately if they were there, and proposed that perhaps Ms. Woody was aware that Herbie responds well to proper commands when given the chance to hear them and when alerted.
The parents contended in their complaint that, “What appears to be overlooked by Ms. Woody and the Defendant is that Herbie is not interchangeable.”
“Service dogs are expensive and highly trained to bond with the disabled individual they support,” they argued.
A family has filed several claims alleging violations of federal disability law and is requesting the court to mandate that the school permit Herbie to accompany M.D. to school.