Seven years ago, Orange County Public Schools in Orlando received a request from a parent to allow her daughter's service dog to ride on the school bus, apparently as part of the girl's IEP. Transportation Director Arby Creach recalled that the request was met with a lot of, "Huh?"

"We were somewhat unprepared then, without guidelines, policies, or procedures," he tells LRP.

The district had to quickly get up to speed with the proper procedures for allowing service animals onboard school buses. Creach recommends that the district formalize policies and procedures to ensure they meet legal requirements, including those pertaining to Title II of the ADA. This regulation anod othersdenote that a service animal can be a dog or, and this is not a typo, a miniature horse. Yes, a horse! (Albeit a very small one.) As long as the animal performs a certain task for a person with a disability, then the district is on the hook for ensuring the animal can be on the bus.