JACKSON, MI -- The U.S. Supreme Court will hear the appeal of a 12-year-old girl with cerebral palsy who was not allowed to bring her service dog to school while she attended Napoleon Community Schools.
This comes nearly four years after the family of Ehlena Fry sued Napoleon Community Schools, Jackson County Intermediate School District and Pamela Barnes, former Eby Elementary School principal, for violating federal disability laws by failing to accommodate Wonder, the girl's service dog.
The lawsuit filed by Brent and Stacy Fry was dismissed and the dismissal upheld by an appeals court in 2015, which said the family needed to seek an administrative hearing first.
However, the Frys appealed again to the high court, which has agreed to rule on whether they can sue the district for the alleged violations of federal disability laws. SCOTUS will hear Fry v. Napoleon Community Schools once the new term kicks off this fall, the Associated Press reports.
"This case could once and for all remove unfair legal hurdles for victims of discrimination across the country that prevent them from seeking justice guaranteed by the Americans with Disabilities Act," Michael J. Steinberg, ACLU of Michigan legal director, said in a June 28 press release in reaction to SCOTUS granting a review. "To force a child to choose between her independence and her education is not only illegal, it is heartless."
The case even reached the desk of President Barack Obama, who sided with the Fry family in saying the appeals court's decision "leads to unsound results."
With the appeal, the ACLU wants a ruling to allow children with service animals to go straight to court without having to go through "costly, time-consuming and burdensome" hearings.
Both sides of the debate were split on the chances of SCOTUS granting the case a review. The ACLU looked at it as a chance to protect the rights of children with disabilities, but the defense didn't give it much of a chance.
"I doubt very much the Supreme Court is going to say, 'Yeah, let's pick this up,'" Tim Mullins, a Napoleon schools attorney, told AP after the appeal failed in 2015.
Over the phone, Mullins said he is not "particularly" surprised by the Supreme Court's ruling but that it doesn't have much to do with the original case. The attorney said he thought the Sixth Circuit court's ruling on the original appeal was appropriate and consistent with seven other circuits and prior case law.
"The purpose (of the hearing process) is to let schools have differing experts to decide what the best way is to accommodate or provide a full and appropriate plan is," he said. "For instance, the young lady doesn't even use the dog anymore, we're not even addressing the case just the principal. She only had the dog for a couple of years, and isn't even able to handle or control the dog herself; between the dog being big and her being fairly small.
"So, what purpose did the dog really serve?"
Mullins said he has been in contact with the school district, but Ehlena has transferred schools so Napoleon or JCISD doesn't have a direct involvement.
Ehlena, who no longer attends Napoleon Community Schools, has spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, which limits her motor skills and mobility, a past lawsuit said. The lawsuit stated she is not impaired cognitively, but has been diagnosed with ADHD inattentive type and seizure disorder.
Wonder, a hypoallergenic Goldendoodle and prescribed service dog, was obtained in 2009 to assist her with mobility and balance problems, and increase her independence, according to the Frys' lawsuit.
This wasn't just the Frys' doing, as the community helped raise $13,000 for the then 5-year-old girl to receive the "4 Paws for Ability" trained dog.
When Ehlena was 8, an 11-member school team recommended an individualized special education plan that determined she didn't need the dog.
After attending Ezra Eby Elementary School without Wonder from October 2009 to April 2010, Ehlena and Wonder were granted a "30-day trial period."
"But school administrators required Wonder to remain in the back of the room during class," a Tuesday, June 28 ACLU press release reads, "and he was not allowed to accompany Ehlena during recess, lunch, computer lab, library time and other activities.
"At the end of the school year, the district would not acknowledge that Wonder was a service dog, and would not discuss whether they would agree to his return in the fall."
This led to more complaints and court hearings for the Fry family.
In 2012, the Office of Civil Rights ruled Napoleon schools violated Ehlena's rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
While this ruling resulted in the school giving the OK on Ehlena and Wonder coming to school, the Frys chose otherwise, citing "the school's attitude" toward their daughter.
The suit from the OCR states that the school district agreed to take the team of Ehlena and Wonder back, but refused to accept its findings or legal conclusions.
After a brief home school period, Ehlena made the move to a Washtenaw County school.
Currently, Wonder is semi-retired due to his age and is still living with the family, but no longer accompanying Ehlena to school, Darrell Dawsey, an ACLU spokesperson, said.
Stacy Fry plays with 1-year-old Ehlena while her husband, Brent, wrestles with Rhett, 2, in their Brooklyn home.
The Frys adopted Ehlena in 2005 from an orphanage in Calcutta, India, according to Citizen Patriot archives. At the time, the family said they didn't have the intention of adopting a child with cerebral palsy, but once they saw Ehlena, they just fell in love with her.
"As a parent, I'll never forget the smile on Ehlena's face when she first began working with Wonder," Stacy Fry, Ehlena's mother, said in the ACLU news release. "With Wonder by her side, she grew more self-reliant and confident.
"We're hopeful that the Supreme Court will make it clear that schools can't treat children with disabilities differently and stand in the way of their independence."
From the SCOTUS website: