MSD Policies
Administration 210: THERAPY ANIMALS IN THE SCHOOLS
Administration 210: THERAPY ANIMALS IN THE SCHOOLS
A. General Conditions
Purpose: A therapy animal will support students in their educational needs. Having therapy animals in the schools could increase staff retention and help students with their academic goals.
"Therapy animals” Definitions
a. "Therapy Animal" for the purposes of this policy shall mean and include any animal individually trained and certified to do work or perform tasks that support student academic achievement.
b. The work or tasks performed by a therapy animal must be directly related to the tasks the animal has been trained and certified on. These tasks may include, but are not limited to: (1) supporting students who are learning to read (2) visiting classrooms before assessments; (3) providing a source of comfort. Therapy animals are not used to complete tasks for the purposes of the law and are not used as a crime deterrent in the schools.
c. The work or tasks performed by a therapy animal must be connected to the social and emotional well-being of the students within the district. Therapy dogs have been proven to help develop students’ reading skills and improve behavior, attendance and academic confidence, provide a source of comfort, as well as increasing student understanding of responsibility and developing empathy and nurturing skills.
District Responsibility: The District will have no responsibility for the training, feeding, grooming or care of any therapy animal permitted to attend school under this policy (except in the limited circumstances described in Section 8.a, below). It shall be the responsibility of the designated handler to ensure the proper care, hygiene, and supervision of the therapy animal.
Requirements: Therapy animals must be kept on a harness, leash or tether (unless this prevents the animal from performing his/her specific work or tasks with the individual), or must otherwise be under the control of the designated (certified) handler at all times. Each animal will wear a vest or patch to designate they are therapy animals.
a. The certified handler will be responsible for the proper control of animals brought to school for instructional purposes. This will include keeping the animal on an appropriate lead, supervising human-animal contact, and handling fecal material in a sanitary manner.
Liability: The individual (certified handler) is liable for any damage to District property or other personal property, and for any injuries to individuals caused by therapy animals, consistent with any applicable laws.
Rights reserved to the District: Whenever a therapy animal is in the School or on District property (and it is not obvious that the animal qualifies as a therapy animal), a building administrator or other authorized District personnel may ask:
a. Whether the therapy animal is certified;
b. What work or task(s) the animal has been trained to perform;
Impact: The emotional well being of students is a large factor in the therapy dog’s success. The presence of a therapy dog can give students a sense of happiness that allows them to perform better academically. There are many children who struggle to open up to a teacher or counselor about issues that they are facing. The therapy dog will give our staff opportunities to talk with children that otherwise wouldn’t open up about their situation. Children may find comfort in talking to the dog, and in turn, be willing to share with a teacher. Many children who experience emotional troubles often lack trust, and using the intervention of a dog may help the child to develop trust. Interacting with animals helps to decrease anxiety, manipulative/abusive behaviors, depression, increase self-esteem, self-worth, expression of feelings, and ability to trust.
Notification: When it is anticipated that a therapy animal is going to be in School on a regular basis with a third party (e.g., employee, volunteer, service animal trainer or other frequent visitor to the School), the individual using the therapy animal (or in the case of a student, the student’s parent/guardian(s)) are required to notify the Superintendent or the Principal in advance.
a. The School will not provide any staff support to care for or control a therapy animal.
b. No animals are allowed to run freely in the classrooms, food areas, or activity areas.
c. The animal should be signed-in in accordance with standard visitor procedures.
Compliance: Therapy animals must be properly licensed and vaccinated in accordance with New Hampshire RSA 466:1. Under this statute, every owner or keeper of a dog four (4) months old or over shall annually, cause it to be registered, numbered, described, and licensed for one year in the office of the clerk of the city or town in which the dog is kept, and shall cause it to wear around its neck a collar to which shall be attached a metal tag with the following information thereon: the name of the city or town, year of issue of license and its registered number.
B . Removal or Exclusion of Therapy Animals from School
The Superintendent, Principal or other authorized School official may require that the therapy animal be removed from the School or other District property under any of the following circumstances:
a. The therapy animal poses a direct threat to the safety of individuals, causes a significant disruption of School activities or programs, fundamentally alters the nature of any School program, or otherwise jeopardizes the safe operation of the School in a manner that cannot be eliminated by modifications;
b. The therapy animal demonstrates that he/she is unable to perform reliably the work or tasks which he/she was represented as being able to perform (which is required to be defined as a certified therapy animal);
c. The therapy animal is not under the full control of the authorized handler/trainer, and the individual does not take effective action to control the animal;
d. The therapy animal is sick (i.e., vomiting, etc.), infested with parasites, has an infection of the skin, mouth or eyes, or otherwise presents a threat to the public health applying the standard that would be applied to any other animal allowed on school premises); and/or
e. The therapy animal is not housebroken (i.e., demonstrates that it is not sufficiently trained to relieve itself outside in appropriate locations).
f. If a therapy animal is removed or excluded, the individual shall still be provided access to school facilities, programs and/or services.
C. Training Requirements and Documentation
Therapy dogs in schools will have successfully completed the Canine Good Citizen test and the Therapy Dog test. The animal will also be registered with the American Kennel Club. Certifications will be produced upon request.
Legal References:
RSA 466:1: Licensing of Dogs
Policy History:
First Reading, Policy Committee: May 18, 2022
Second Reading and BOSC Adoption: May 23, 2022