His bowtie was slightly askew, but the School Committee still voted unanimously on his approval.

Arnold, a 1-year and 7-month-old English Mastiff, is a trained and certified therapy dog.

On Tuesday night, Arnold met the Johnston School Committee.

His steps long and steady, “Arnie” took a lap and sat quietly in the front of the room. It was a long meeting, and the vote to approve or deny the proposed therapy dog program at Barnes Elementary topped the final page of a three-page agenda.

Christine Reed, a speech and language pathologist (SLP) at Sarah Dyer Barnes Elementary School, is Arnold’s handler and owner. She and Michelle Smith, a Barnes special educator, spoke to the School Committee, presenting a body of evidence showing the benefits of service animals.

“Arnie enjoys hiking, playing tug, splashing in puddles, watching over his chicken ‘sisters,’ getting pets from humans, showing off his tricks, and most of all — napping,” according to his handler. “Arnie is gentle, friendly, enthusiastic, obedient, and easygoing.”

The School Committee considered an eight-page draft proposal for a Therapy Dog Policy for Johnston Public Schools.

“A therapy dog has the designated purpose to provide therapeutic support and comfort in a medical or educational setting,” the policy begins. “All such therapy dogs shall be individually trained and certified to provide such therapeutic support and comfort and maintain all requirements established by local and state law, and as required by the Johnston Public School Department when interacting within Johnston Public School property.”

Unlike service dogs, which are automatically permitted on school grounds, therapy animals required their own policy. And within the policy, all the pros and cons are clearly defined.

“Although therapy animals can play a vital role in someone’s well-being, therapy animals do not have any legal rights under either federal or state law to access the types of public areas that service dogs may access,” the policy explains. “A therapy animal handler does not have the same public access rights as service dog users, because the handler does not have a disability that the animal is individually trained to mitigate.”

Although Arnold will be the first official therapy animal in the Johnston school system, the new policy ensures other schools have a framework to follow.

The policy, which was ultimately approved unanimously by the Johnston School Committee, dictates that all therapy animals must have “a handler” who has successfully completed “an accepted pet-assisted therapy training.”

Handlers will be required to be “present, and in close proximity” to the therapy dog whenever it’s on school property. And handlers “must employ the use of a harness, leash, or tether on the therapy dog on school property.”

Handlers will be required to thoroughly clean up after the animals, carry insurance, and maintain records of temperament and vaccination certifications.

Dogs will need to be at least 1 year old, “and demonstrate a stable temperament, a friendly, easy-going personality, and strong basic obedience.”

Therapy dog training will consist of a 4-week “intensive training class to learn/reinforce specific skills and commands,” according to a slide presentation delivered by Reed and Smith.

The dogs will require a temperament test prior to evaluation, a Therapy Dog International evaluation, the dog and handler team must pass 13 criteria measuring obedience skills and temperament, and the submittal of an annual application (with an annual renewal).

In return, Reed and Smith promise therapy dogs like Arnold will “increase social-emotional wellness for students and staff; enhance social skills; increase empathy, encourage communication; increase engagement (in social and educational tasks); create a sense of belonging; improve motivation; assist with improving attendance; improve cognitive development, reading, executive functioning, memory, problem-solving, etc.; improve attention and motivation; improve confidence.”

The audience applauded the committee’s unanimous approval of the policy. And Arnold, the size of a skinny pony, stretched out long at his handler’s feet and delivered his giant brown eyes.