All Roll Calls
Yes: 121 • No: 1
ArkansasHB15452025 Regular SessionHouseWALLET
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS MILITARY CHILD SCHOOL TRANSITIONS ACT OF 2021.
Sponsored By: Jane English (Republican), Karilyn Brown (Republican)
Enacted
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
7 provisions identified: 7 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Earlier school enrollment for military children
Caregivers of covered military children can apply remotely after receiving official assignment notices or orders. Applications can include military identification, school records, disability plans, and extracurricular activities. Schools must provisionally enroll and place students, enter course requests using available records, and share school program and contact information. Schools must consider arrival dates, class sizes, course requirements or conflicts, and elective availability without discriminating based on gender, national origin, race, ethnicity, religion, military family status, or disability. Schools must send written decisions within 15 calendar days of receiving applications and supporting documents; denial is allowed only for lack of capacity when the applicable maximum student-to-teacher ratio is reached, claimed promptly and consistently with state and federal law.
Longer school support for military children
The law removes the former one-year limit on school-transition support for two groups of dependent children. One group is children of veterans injured in the line of duty and medically separated or retired. The veteran's injury no longer has to be severe. The other group is children of service members who died on active duty or from injuries suffered on active duty.
Earlier disability planning for military students
Receiving districts can plan special education services before a covered student with a disability arrives. They can meet with the family and the sending district's individualized education program team. With parent consent, they can request an evaluation while the student remains enrolled in the sending district. They can also meet with the family and student to confirm services and take other steps to ease the transfer.
Schools can help more transferring students
Public schools can extend military school-transition protections to other students moving into their districts. They can also offer these protections to students using the Arkansas Opportunity Public School Choice Act or Public School Choice Act of 2015. Each school decides whether to extend this help; families do not automatically qualify.
More school guidance for military families
The Arkansas Council for Military Children must distribute a digital guide and publicly survey military families at least every two years. It must develop arrival and departure surveys to assess programs and support staff training, Purple Star outreach, and recognition programs. It must inform current and former military families, including Gold Star families, about identifying their military connection to schools. Public information must cover school choice, educational freedom account resources, advance enrollment, coordinator contacts, and Purple Star highlights and facilitator contacts. The Council must also post its purpose, duties, membership, meeting agendas, and minutes.
Purple Star schools support military children
Public schools with at least 20 children from military families enrolled by October 1 each year must adopt the approved Purple Star School Program. They must survey arriving and departing military families and provide school facilitators, staff training, military-family website information, and volunteer peer ambassadors. The program also requires recognition events, military representatives on engagement committees, military resources in family engagement plans, and collaboration with military commands. Schools and districts can add community initiatives. The Arkansas Council for Military Children must review the model every two years, set standards and needed phase-in timing and training, and recognize qualifying public schools, districts, and private schools. The state education division must administer the program, provide training resources, support the Council, and issue rules.
School contacts for every military family
Every Arkansas public school district and open-enrollment public charter school must name a military family education coordinator, regardless of enrollment counts. Each must post the coordinator's contact information in its website's Military Families section and report it to the state annually by September 1. Coordinators must understand military children's school needs and help develop and adopt parent and family engagement plans. They must help families find school resources and, when asked, connect them with other military families at the school.
Sponsors & Cosponsors
Sponsors
Jane English
Republican • Senate
Karilyn Brown
Republican • House
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
Senate vote • 4/7/2025
Senate Vote - Monday, April 7, 2025 5:35:49 PM
Yes: 34 • No: 0
House vote • 3/20/2025
House Vote - Thursday, March 20, 2025 2:01:17 PM
Yes: 87 • No: 1 • Other: 2
Actions Timeline
Notification that HB1545 is now Act 501
4/10/2025HouseCorrectly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's Office.
4/8/2025HouseTO BE ENROLLED
4/7/2025HouseReturned from the Senate as passed.
4/7/2025HouseReturned to the House as Passed.
4/7/2025SenateRead the third time and passed.
4/7/2025SenateReturned by the Committee, with the recommendation that it Do Pass
4/2/2025SenateRead first time, rules suspended, read second time, referred to EDUCATION COMMITTEE - SENATE
3/20/2025SenateReceived from the House.
3/20/2025SenateRead the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate.
3/20/2025HouseREPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED
3/19/2025HouseAmendment No. 2 read and adopted and the bill ordered engrossed.
3/19/2025HousePlaced on second reading for the purpose of amendment.
3/19/2025HouseReturned by the Committee with the recommendation that it do pass as amended 2
3/18/2025HouseREPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED
3/10/2025HouseAmendment No. 1 read and adopted and the bill ordered engrossed.
3/10/2025HousePlaced on second reading for the purpose of amendment.
3/10/2025HouseRead the first time, rules suspended, read the second time and referred to the Committee on EDUCATION COMMITTEE- HOUSE
2/20/2025HouseFiled
2/20/2025House
Bill Text
HB1545 - Introduced
2/20/2025
Act Version
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