Clifton found a way to lessen students’ stress and it’s doubling down on the program

CLIFTON — Puppies and adult dogs positively affect students recovering from pandemic-related issues, social media overload and many other stressors, city school officials say.

Last year the district welcomed therapy dog Chewy, a trained goldendoodle, to interact with students. Since then, the administration said students who interacted with the lovable dog have greatly benefited from the experiment. School officials said Chewy is worth his weight in gold and they want to get more like him.

Having a therapy dog is also "cost-effective," said Assistant Superintendent of Schools Mark Gengaro. "If we keep just one student with school phobia in the district, it can save the district $100,000 in out-of-district tuition."

Chewy, short for Chewbacca, has paved the way for more trained therapy dogs. The district is currently weighing its options to procure at least two and perhaps more therapy dogs.

The funding isn't reflected in the district's $393 million school budget for the next school year. Officials said they will have to find about $26,000 somewhere to pay for two trained therapy dogs. The district is looking at counseling and security accounts to see if the funds are there, Gengaro said.

Chewie hailed from Virginia dog breeders who specialize in service and therapy dogs. After seven months of training by the breeders, Chewie was brought to Gengaro, who worked with the dog to prepare him for the task.

"In an ideal world we'd have a therapy dog in each school," Gengaro said.

There is a possibility the district will be able to get two more goldendoodles or maybe a goldendoodle and a miniature goldendoodle, school officials said.

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The district is also considering an alternative route of asking staff members to have their dogs trained at district expense and brought to school.

Gengaro said he plans to send out a proposal to staff members to see if there's interest. If there is and training for staff-owned dogs comes to about $3,000 per dog, the district may add as many as eight therapy dogs.

"We may know which way we are going in another few weeks," Gengaro said.

For either option, the assistant superintendent said it has to be the right staff members.

A primary school teacher who teaches one class throughout the day is not an ideal candidate. A school security specialist or the head of a school's counseling department might be.

Gengaro said it is easier for him as an administrator because he can adjust his schedule to get into the schools with a dog. He said he takes Chewie out several times a week and visits 250 to 300 classrooms in the district's 20 schools. He also takes Chewie to many school events, including games and other athletic activities.

But it is a huge workload, he said. Clifton has more than 11,000 students and 20 schools, and just about everyone wants to see Chewy, especially students who are having a rough time dealing with whatever school or home life issue is negatively affecting them.

Gengaro said the job of the dog handler is to pay attention to the dog and how it is reacting to students. Is he getting overloaded? These are some of the concerns anyone who handles a dog will need to consider.

Ruff and ready

Gengaro is not alone in his effusive support of therapy dogs and adding more. Superintendent of Schools Danny Robertozzi shares the enthusiasm.

"The therapy dog initiative has been nothing less than a rousing success," he said. "Chewie has provided therapeutic, emotional, academic and behavioral support to students and staff alike."

He said he supports having the district acquire more therapy dogs.

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Districts with dogs

Clifton is not alone in deploying therapy dogs.

The city is ahead of the curve, joining Absecon, Barnegat and Burlington, which also have therapy dogs.

There are bipartisan bills in the state Legislature for a therapy dog pilot program.

Under one proposed bill, sponsored by Republican Sen. Anthony Bucco and Democratic Sen. James Beach, six school districts would be part of a three-year pilot program. The districts would include two each from South, Central and North Jersey in a mix of urban, suburban and rural areas of the state.

At the end of the three years, the state education commissioner would submit a report to the governor and the Legislature to help determine whether the program should spread statewide.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Clifton NJ schools want to expand therapy dog program