Roosevelt Jr. and Donna Stallings Roosevelt and I are parents of children in the Jefferson City Public School system and are concerned about the recent trend to include dogs in the elementary schools without a plan that protects children who have allergies, asthma, or who are afraid of dogs. We have four children in the district with one who has asthma and allergies, one with allergies and in the process of being tested for asthma, and two others who have a host of allergies. Our five year old is very afraid of dogs and is afraid of going to school this year. We are concerned that the Jefferson City Public school system has not given full consideration to these issues. We have over the last month spoken with our local school counselor who hosts a dog, our principal, elementary director. In addition, we have emailed our concerns to the secondary directors, assistant superintendent, and superintendent. Initially we were told that the dogs had already been paid for and we would have to choose another school. Another individual commented that the dogs had rights and were covered under ADA guidelines (the major problem here is that they are not service dogs), we were later told that no other parent had raised this concern. We are requesting support as we prepare to present to the school board this issue. We do not believe that the current administration has taken this issue seriously. This. in our opinion. is another situation where parents are being left out of decisions that directly affect our children.