ACLU Files Lawsuit Against Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation

The ACLU has filed suit against the Evansville-Vanderburgh over policies regarding student use of service animals.

The lawsuit is being filed on behalf of two students in the EVSC who require the use of service dogs. One is a Reitz student who has diabetes. Her service dog alerts when drastic swings in blood sugar occur. The other student is a sophomore at Harrison who has a rare mitochondrial disorder that causes seizures. Her service dog is trained to help her with mobility and balance.

According to the lawsuit, EVSC policy requires documentation be provided two weeks before the service animals can accompany the students to school. The ACLU says that the students did not learn of the requirements until the first day of school.

The lawsuit seeks to stop the enforcement of the policy and provide relief to the two students.

Pat shoulders, the legal counsel for the EVSC referred to the lawsuit as “frivolous” and said it is “not filed in good faith. “

Shoulders stated that one of the students referred to in the suit has been in school since the second day of the year.

According to Shoulders the service animals must meet certain health requirements and in the case of one of the animals in question, there is an issue with fleas and tapeworm.

EVSC plans to ask for a dismissal of the case and will ask that the ACLU pay the legal fees associated with defending the charges.