Saturday, April 6, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
The high court is scheduled to hear a petition from lawyers for the Clark County School District to overturn a lower court ruling that let a Vail Pittman Elementary School music teacher keep dogs in her classroom.
The teacher, Anne Buchanan, is a volunteer with a nonprofit organization that trains dogs to assist people with disabilities. As part of the training, she has been bringing dogs to school with her.
But Buchanan's superiors told her to leave the animals home because they might divert the teacher from her main duties. They also noted some parents were concerned their children would be afraid of the dogs or get allergies from "dog dander."
But even though the school district called the dogs an "unwarranted and detrimental intrusion into the learning environment," administrators said Buchanan could bring them to faculty meetings or to special events like Christmas concerts.
Richard "Tick" Segerblom, Buchanan's lawyer, will urge the Supreme Court to uphold the ruling last September from Clark County District Judge Joseph Bonaventure that said the dogs could stay in the classrooms.
Segerblom said many other elementary teachers have pets ranging from rabbits, hamsters, gerbils and rats to fish, lizards and snakes.
In a brief filed in advance of Wednesday's hearing, he added, "Children can learn to deal with a dog. The question is, when will the (school) district recognize this reality?"
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