Muslim threats force outOh, really, Ms. Espe? Considering Muslim dogophobia, just how will such "future problems" be avoided? By service dog Emmitt away in some isolated corner of the campus and having a human escort for Mr. Hurd from the dog's confinement point to the work Mr. Hurd does?
disabled teacher with dog
Islamic students reportedly taunted 'unclean' animal
A Muslim high school student's intolerance for a service dog needed by a student teacher with a disability has reportedly prompted the student teacher to abandon the last 10 hours of his scheduled assignment at Technical High School in St. Cloud, Minn.
The St. Cloud Times online said the situation developed with student teacher Tyler Hurd, 23, of Mahtomedi, who hopes to teach special education.
He's a student at St. Cloud State University, and was assigned to Technical High School in the St. Cloud district for his 50 hours of student teaching, and took with him his service dog, Emmitt.
The newspaper said Hurd needs a service dog because of a childhood injury that leaves him with seizures, sometimes happening as often as weekly. The black lab is trained to protect Hurd when he has a seizure.
The school district told the newspaper it wasn't really a threat.
"I think it was a misunderstanding where we didn't really prepare either side for possible implications," Julia Espe, curriculum director for the public schools, said.
Hurd, however, reported a student threatened to kill his dog. He said the threat came from a Somali student who is Muslim.
[...]
A meeting was set up involving Kate Steffens, the dean of education at St. Cloud State, and assistant principal Lori Lockhart of Tech, in order to avoid future problems.
"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.
On the newspaper's forum, "scorpionthoughts" said: "The last time I checked this is the United States of America!!!!! So many people are getting shipped over here and expect to be treated like they and their beliefs are better …. If you don't like the way things are in this country – stay in your own … place of origin!!!"Kudos to you, Scorpionthoughts!