HANOVER COUNTY, Va. — A 12-year-old Hanover County student with autism and a panic disorder hasn't attended school in two-and-a-half weeks because he can't bring his service dog to class without a parent present.
Charlie Kreitz, a sixth-grader at Chickahominy Middle School, said his service dog Wendy helps him manage severe panic attacks that occur most frequently at school.
"I love her," Charlie said about Wendy. "It's really just melting away the stress."
Charlie wants Wendy with him at school and Hanover County Public Schools said they welcome the dog into the school setting with Charlie, but there is one catch.
The Kreitz family’s contract wtih the nonprofit that gave them Wendy, Canine Companions, states that one of the dog’s approved facilitators, which are Charlie’s parents Matt and Angie Kreitz, will accompany Wendy and Charlie at all times while in public.
"Canine Companions does provide an insurance policy over all of their graduate service dogs. That insurance policy is only contingent on you successfully and properly maintaining the terms of your contract, which we would not be doing if we sent Wendy to school with Charlie and not a third party handler,” Matt Kreitz said.
The Americans with Disabilities Act also requires that a service animal must be under the control of its handler.
But, Charlie’s dad said his son cannot become Wendy's certified handler himself.
"There is no way that Charlie could complete the certification and become the handler of Wendy,” Matt Kreitz said. "Charlie would not be capable of sitting through daylong lectures and completing written tests."
This means Charlie needs one of his parents or another trained third-party to accompany him and Wendy at school every day.
Hanover County Public Schools rejected the family's request for a third-party facilitator in the classroom.
Spokesperson Chris Whitley said the division does not support the extended presence of parents or guardians accompanying their children in classrooms during the instructional day when it can reasonably interfere with and fundamentally alter the smooth operation of the learning environment.
Superintendent Lisa Pennycuff told Charlie's parents in an email that the division offered to have school staff provide Charlie with reasonable assistance in handling his service animal at school. She said several staff members could go through any reasonable training the company believes is needed to provide Charlie with reasonable assistance in handling his service animal.
Pennycuff also said HCPS believes Charlie is both mentally and physically capable of serving as a handler of his service animal. She added that the school board and staff remain committed to finding a mutually agreeable outcome.
However, no agreement has been reached, and Charlie remains out of school because he doesn't feel comfortable there without Wendy.
"That is the reason why we got the service dog, to remove my panic attacks when I have the panic attacks, but the thing is, 90 percent of the time I get those panic attacks when I'm at school, so essentially, she's not a service dog if she's not at school where I am having those symptoms, she's just a regular stay-at-home dog," Charlie said.
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
📲: CONNECT WITH US
Blue Sky | Facebook | Instagram | X | Threads | TikTok | YouTube
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. To learn more about how we use AI in our newsroom, click here.
