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Fourth graders ask Board to reconsider classroom-animal policy following positive experience
Summary
A 4th-grade class, accompanied by teacher Patrick Farinholt, told the Board that a classroom rabbit improved attendance, engagement, social-emotional learning, and responsibility; the Board directed staff to research other districts' policies and report back.
Elementary teacher Patrick Farinholt appeared before the Board with members of his 4th-grade class to present letters and testimony asking the district to reconsider its classroom-animal policy. The students described how caring for a classroom rabbit earlier in the year yielded improved attendance, increased engagement, and opportunities to learn responsibility and science concepts.
Students reported that activities around the animal—reading to it, daily care routines, and writing about the experience—helped build teamwork and structure in the classroom, and Board members thanked them for their preparation and respectful testimony. During subsequent discussion the Board directed Superintendent Helena Chirinian and Administrative Assistant Nancy Raskauskas-Coons to research comparable district policies and practices related to animals in classrooms and to report back at a future meeting.
No formal policy change occurred at the meeting; the Board's action was a directive to staff to gather comparative policies and practices for future consideration.
