Revere board discusses therapy dogs, background checks

by Sheldon Ocker

Nov. 12 work session

Another sign that Revere is no longer your grandfather’s school system: The Revere board of education is deliberating the efficacy of therapy dogs and background checks for school volunteers.

Superintendent Dan White explained why the board needed to formulate a policy about therapy dogs, even though the district has a policy regarding service dogs.

“We have a policy for service dogs for an individual student, based on a specific need,” he said. “Therapy dog [use] is more general, like a counselor who might want to have a therapy dog in her or his office for students to come during the day and pet the dog for therapy.”

Board President Keith Malick said he knows people who own therapy dogs and think of them in a setting like Children’s Hospital. He added that he knows of therapy dogs being used for traumatized kids victimized by crimes.

White further clarified the need for therapy dogs.

“For students who might need help, whether they get upset or angry for any reason, a therapy dog can be effective in helping the student just calm down,” he said.

Board members wondered whether the dogs had to be certified, a question that could not be answered with certainty. Board member Kasha Brackett said therapy dogs had to pass 10 separate tests.

What if so many students asked for therapy dogs, a school building became inundated with dogs? That is unlikely to happen because therapy dogs cannot be brought onto campus without permission from the superintendent.

Questions about background checks for school volunteers arose because of Halloween celebrations at Richfield Elementary. Karen Arbogast, director of human resources and communication, said a reference to background checks appeared in the middle of a document outlining the policy for volunteers on the district website.

“It could be interpreted in different ways,” Arbogast said.

Nobody on the board seemed to be against background checks for school volunteers (Hayden Hajdu was absent). The challenge is differentiating between an individual who volunteers to perform duties at a school event and a mother who comes to school for lunch with her offspring.

“Maybe we only need to define volunteer,” Malick said.

“If you are going to be working with small groups of children,” said Arbogast, “maybe taking them into the hallway or maybe escorting students to the restroom, I think there is universal agreement that we’re going to err on the side of safety and security and expect a background check.” The board agreed that more work is needed to refine the policy. Proposals will be discussed with principals, administrators, the district’s two school resource officers and PTA presidents.