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Committee advances amendment to clarify service‑animal support in schools; bill laid over after testimony about student litigation
Summary
Senate file 256, addressing student access to service animals in school settings, drew lengthy testimony from parents, lawyers and administrators. The committee approved an authors' amendment clarifying staff liability and presuming the student is the handler; the bill was laid over for further consideration.
Senate file 256, sponsored by Senator Hoffman, would clarify student access to service animals in Minnesota schools and limit schools’ ability to deny access where a service animal is part of a student’s educational plan. After testimony from parents who said schools had denied access and from legal counsel, the committee approved an amendment to standardize policy and clarify staff responsibilities; the bill was then laid over for further work.
Laura McMahon, a parent from St. Cloud, described a multi‑year dispute over her son Ian’s access to his autism assistance dog, Dewey. McMahon testified that when Ian first began without Dewey at school he experienced “daily staff reports of increasing self…
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