Premium

Lawsuit: Removing student’s service dog from Germantown school unlawful

By , Daily Memphian Updated: November 11, 2024 9:40 AM CT | Published: November 11, 2024 4:00 AM CT

Editor’s note: The Daily Memphian agreed to use aliases for the nine-year-old child and the medical alert dog, per the parents’ requests, due to the sensitive nature of this story.

A family is suing Germantown Municipal School District for refusing to allow their son to attend school with his seizure-alert dog, Shadow.

Attorneys for Sarah and Doug Dietz allege in a new complaint that barring the dog from attending school with their 9-year-old son Peter violates federal disability laws.


Germantown Schools chairman discusses past, future of serving suburb


“And every day that (Peter) is denied the right to be accompanied by (Shadow) to school, he is denied the same public education that every child is guaranteed,” attorneys said in the complaint.

In the Dietz household, Shadow offers comfort. He nudges Sarah and Doug with alerts to their son’s frequent seizures, the parents told The Daily Memphian, and he also alerts Peter’s siblings. Shadow makes Peter feel safe, too, they said. But the Dietzes are concerned that school staff aren’t recognizing Peter’s seizures or Shadow’s alerts. 

Topics

Germantown Municipal School District Americans with Disabilities Act Education Subscriber Only

Are you enjoying your subscription?  

Your subscription gives you unlimited access to all of The Daily Memphian’s news, written by nearly 40 local journalists and more than 20 regular freelancers. We work around the clock to cover the issues that impact your life and our community. 

You can help us reach more Memphians. 

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, we provide free news access at K-12 schools, public libraries and many community organizations. We also reach tens of thousands of people through our podcasts, and through our radio and television partnerships – all completely free to everyone who cares about Memphis.  

When you subscribe, you get full access to our news. But when you donate, you help us reach all Memphians.  

Pay it forward. Make a fully tax-deductible donation to The Daily Memphian today. 

Thank you for reading the local news. Thank you for investing in our community. 

Laura Testino

Laura Testino

Laura Testino is an enterprise reporter on The Daily Memphian’s metro team who writes most often about how education policies shape the lives of children and families. She regularly contributes to coverage of breaking news events and actions of the Tennessee General Assembly. Testino’s journalism career in Memphis began six years ago at The Commercial Appeal, where she began chronicling learning disruptions associated with the pandemic, and continued with Chalkbeat, where she dug into education administration in Memphis. Her reporting has appeared in The New York Times, The Times-Picayune, The Tuscaloosa News and USA Today.


Comments

Want to comment on our stories or respond to others? Join the conversation by subscribing now. Only paid subscribers can add their thoughts or upvote/downvote comments. Our commenting policy can be viewed here