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Posted on 05/14/2008 5:08:52 AM PDT by SJackson
A St. Cloud State University student in a teacher-training program at Technical High School left the school in late April because he says he feared for the safety of his service dog.
The school district calls it a misunderstanding, and officials there say they hoped Tyler Hurd, a 23-year-old junior from Mahtomedi who aspires to teach special education, would continue his training in the district.
Hurd said a student threatened to kill his service dog named Emmitt. The black lab is trained to protect Hurd when he has seizures.
The seizures, which can occur weekly, are from a childhood injury.
The dog has a pouch on his side that assists those who stop to help Hurd.
Hurd said he was unable to finish his 50 hours of field training at Tech. The university waived the remaining 10 hours, he said. He plans to do his student teaching outside a high school setting.
“We came up with a solution because I felt threatened by it," Hurd said.
The school district and university are working to make sure a similar situation doesn't happen.
Kate Steffens, dean of the college of education at St. Cloud State, and Tech assistant principal Lori Lockhart met Thursday.
The threat came from a Somali student who is Muslim, according to Hurd, St. Cloud State and school district officials.
The Muslim faith, which is the dominant faith of Somali immigrants, forbids the touching of dogs.
Hurd trained at Talahi Community School and Tech. He said his experience at Talahi was good. The Somali students there warmed to the dog and eventually petted him using paper to keep their hands off his fur, Hurd said.
Things didn't go as well at Tech, Hurd said. Students there taunted his dog, and he finally felt he had to leave after he was told a student made a threat. Hurd met with Lockhart but said he did not feel comfortable continuing.
Julia Espe, director of curriculum, instruction and assessment for St. Cloud school district, said the school needed to do a better job communicating.
“I think it was a misunderstanding where we didn't really prepare either side for possible implications," Espe said.
Espe said the school's investigation determined the student did not make a direct threat.
“We certainly welcome (Hurd) in our district, and we hope we can get this all resolved so he feels welcome and his dog is welcome," Espe said.
St. Cloud State places about 1,000 students in 240 schools to help prepare them for careers in education.
In St. Cloud school district, 330 are in the field training program Hurd was in and 94 are in student teaching.
Steffens said it is important to respect different cultures and the rights of disabled students.
“I think this is part of the growth process when we become more diverse," Steffens said.
Steffens called Hurd a good student and committed young man.
Gary Loch, who is the diversity coordinator for the district, said the situation was an unfortunate case of miscommunication.
“I'm not quite sure where the breakdown comes into play here," Loch said.
A Somali threatens Steffens’ dog, and Steffens has to leave? To quote Reverend Wright, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO! Kick the Somali out of the school. And his buddies too, if they agree.
If I were this student teacher I would be suing Tech High for discrimination against the handicapped and the student making the threats for a civil rights violation. If the student making the threat was not Muslim imagine the difference in how this would be handled.
My bad, make that Hurd’s dog.
[WHat did Laz do to get put out of the sandbox?...........]
This is rather like the Indian Culture. Once a ‘Brave’ has departed, his name must never be mentioned again.
you might say that we ... “pooched”... it.
He’ll be back............/Schwarzenegger’s voice....
“All a mooslin needs to do is whine and whimper and diversity coordinators wet their pants.”
That’s exactly how CAIR works. Issuing demands and complaints for every little thing they can think of, imagined slights etc. - all part of conditioning the West to appease them at every turn.
“Why are these savages in the United States?”
Because the GOP and Democrats invited them.
Same reason the Left is still here in the West - to destroy it.
HEY! ... dont forget the worst.... their bacon hating!
I guess the only thing clean of God’s creations are them..right, yea thats the ticket..
Managers of Heaven, what a friggin joke...
If they don’t approve of touching a dog, they should wrap themselves in plastic, don’t scratch..
Yah,we've seen that dynamism....in Lower Manhattan,at Kobar Towers,on the USS Cole,at our embassies in Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam,in Lower Manhattan (yet again),in London,in Madrid.....
UPDATE............
CAIR supports service dog owner........
http://www.startribune.com/nation/18931124.html
“Islamic group backs service dog owner threatened by Muslim students
The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations today is expressing support for a St. Cloud State University student’s right to his service dog after he left the school because he says he feared for the safety of the animal..................”
Deaf/Hard of Hearing ping list
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hmmm ... ver-ree int-e-resting, as Artie Johnson (was that his name?) used to say on Laugh In.
I’m sure that CAIR has no problem tossing a couple of fresh-off-the-boat Somalis under the bus in order to look like the good guys.
Accused chinese agents of being chinese agents.
interesting too i thought cuz of how racist the rep at St Cloud State is.
just an interesting dichotomy
This sounds like a clear violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act, as well as threatening and possibly other charges.
No courage there, to let this happen.
Not sure. I've never had a dog that did any of those things. Just like people, there are smart and stupid dogs.
My last dog (passed away last year) would have still defended my family to the death even when she lost the use of her back legs. That dog also saved my baby niece's life by alerting us that she was choking at night.
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