Are school classrooms allergy & asthma friendly?

School started this week, and we went to Back to School Night to meet my daughter's teacher. 

 

Of course we had to fill out the emergency form listing her asthma, and talk to her teacher about that.

While I was there, I was able to look around see what Kitty's classroom looked like. I was relieved to see that it looked clean and uncluttered. (Yes, I know it is the start of the school year, so it's clean NOW...) but I was happy to see that there weren't piles of stuffed animals, a furry rug or oversized pillows in the classroom. 

 

I did see a couple of beanbag chairs for the kids to sit in while they read, but they were a smooth vinyl, and not fabric. That's a better surface to repel dirt and dust.

Also, the class was free of pets except for a salt water fish tank. Do some classrooms still have class pets? Lately, they're showing a Target commercial where the teacher has a guinea pig that she says she'll send home with each student to take care of. 

 

No thanks. I thought those days were over. Please keep pets out of the classroom!

Has anyone had an experience lately with a classroom pet? I'm curious to see if other schools allow those, ours is a pet free zone. Anyone had to babysit their child's classroom pet over the weekend? 

Pets and asthma don't usually go together, but each person is different. We don't have any pets, but do seem to be able to dogsit our neighbor's miniature schnauzer.

Let me know if any of you have run into problems with pets in the classroom