Title 6, Education

(a) This section shall be known and may be cited as the “Support for Pregnant and Parenting Students Act”. (b) Each public school district and open-enrollment public charter school shall include in its attendance policy the requirement that the public school district or open-enro…

(a) As used in this section:(1) “Host family” means the individual or family with whom an international exchange student is placed by an international student exchange visitor placement organization under the International Student Exchange Visitor Placement Organization Registrat…

(a) (1) A student enrolled in a school shall not be considered absent from the school in which the student is enrolled for the time during which the student accompanies the student's parent when the parent is exercising his or her right to vote in a scheduled election.(2) A stude…

(a) A public school district or an open-enrollment public charter school shall not grant excused absences for purposes of political protest. (b) A public school district or an open-enrollment public charter school may grant an excused absence for the following purposes with writt…

(a) As used in this section:(1) “Athletic activity” means a varsity sport or another competitive sports-related contest, game, event, or exhibition that involves an individual student or teams of students either among schools within a resident school district or between schools o…

(a) A student who meets one (1) of the following qualifications shall not be considered absent from his or her public school for the time during which he or she is absent from school due to a mental health concern or to attend an event from a sponsoring organization that provides…

(1) The General Assembly finds that:(1) It is the responsibility of each school district in Arkansas to ensure the safety of all students and school personnel;(2) It is the responsibility of each school district in Arkansas to ensure that every student in Arkansas is safe and pro…

(a) This subchapter applies to any school-aged and enrolled student regardless of whether the student has an identified disability. (b) (1) This subchapter does not supersede federal or state law.(2) A school district shall follow all relevant federal and state law, including wit…

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) (A) “Aversive behavioral intervention” means a physical or sensory intervention program that is intended to modify behavior through the use of a substance or stimulus that the intervention implementer knows will cause physical trauma, emotional …

(a) Each public school shall establish within its multi-tiered system of supports behavioral interventions for each student who exhibits social, emotional, or behavioral difficulty that may escalate, if not addressed, to potentially dangerous behavior. (b) A multi-tiered system o…

(a) (1) Physical restraint of a student shall be used only by a member of school personnel who is appropriately trained to administer physical restraint except in the case of a clearly unavoidable emergency situation in which a trained member of school personnel is not immediatel…

(1) A school district shall develop policies and procedures:(1) To ensure that school personnel are aware of how to access state and local policies and procedures regarding the use of physical restraint on a student;(2) To ensure that parents are notified of how to access state a…

(1) After the occurrence of an incident involving physical restraint of a student, school personnel involved in the incident shall:(1) (A) Document the incident in a written report within twenty-four (24) hours after the incident occurred.(B) A written report of the incident shal…

(a) A school district may conduct the following training for school personnel:(1) Training on the use of an array of positive behavior interventions, if the school district utilizes positive behavior interventions, behavioral intervention procedures, strategies, and supports to i…

(1) A program used by a school district to train school personnel on the use of physical restraint on a student shall:(1) Teach evidence-based techniques that are shown to be effective in the prevention and safe use of physical restraint;(2) Provide evidence-based skills training…

This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Arkansas Children's Educational Freedom Account Program”.

There is created the “Arkansas Children's Educational Freedom Account Program”.

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Account” means an account that is comprised of funds deposited on behalf of a participating student to pay for qualifying educational expenses;(2) “Account funds” means the funds deposited into an account on behalf of a participating student; (…

(a) The Division of Elementary and Secondary Education shall administer the Arkansas Children's Educational Freedom Account Program under this subchapter, which shall be subject to the rules adopted by the State Board of Education. (b) The rules adopted by the state board under t…

(a) (1) The Division of Elementary and Secondary Education shall allocate annually to each participating student's account, from funds appropriated to the Arkansas Children's Educational Freedom Account Fund or otherwise made available for the Arkansas Children's Educational Free…

(a) Beginning with the 2025-2026 school year, a student is initially eligible for an account if the student:(1) Has a parent who is a resident of the State of Arkansas as defined by § 6-18-202; and(2) Is eligible to enroll in a public elementary or secondary school in this state.…

(a) To be eligible to participate in the Arkansas Children's Educational Freedom Account Program, a private school shall:(1) (A) Either:(i) Meet accreditation requirements established by the State Board of Education, the Arkansas Nonpublic School Accrediting Association, Inc., or…

(1) The Department of Education shall ensure that parents of students with disabilities identified under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq., as it existed on January 1, 2023, receive:(1) Notice that participation in the Arkansas Children’s E…

(a) (1) Each participating school and participating service provider shall provide for each participating student to annually take an assessment approved by the State Board of Education, which shall include: (A) An examination identified by the state board that is required for st…

(a) (1) Not later than September 30 of each year, the Department of Education shall submit a written report regarding the implementation of the Arkansas Children's Educational Freedom Account Program to the:(A) Legislative Council, or if the General Assembly is in session, the Jo…

(a) There shall be no liability on the part of the Department of Education or the state or of any public school or public school district based on the award of or use of an account under this subchapter. (b) Nothing in this section shall be construed as a waiver of sovereign immu…

This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Student Data Vendor Security Act”.

The purpose of this subchapter is to increase security and transparency in the sharing and use of student data with and by third-party vendors.

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Affiliate” means a legal entity that controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with another legal entity;(2) “Control” means:(A) Ownership of, or the power to vote, more than fifty percent (50%) of the outstanding voting securities…

(a) Each local education agency shall ensure that all contracts that disclose or make available student personally identifiable information to vendors, including school service contract providers, school service on-demand providers, and other third parties, including without limi…

(a) (1) Each school service contract provider shall provide clear information that is understandable by a layperson explaining:(A) The elements of student personally identifiable information that the school service contract provider collects;(B) The purpose for which the school s…

(a) (1) A school service contract provider may collect, use, and share student personally identifiable information only:(A) For the purposes authorized in the contract between the school service contract provider and a public education entity; or(B) With the consent of the studen…

(a) (1) A school service contract provider shall maintain a comprehensive information security program that is reasonably designed to protect the security, privacy, confidentiality, and integrity of student personally identifiable information.(2) The comprehensive information sec…

(a) Notwithstanding any provision of this subchapter to the contrary, this subchapter does not prohibit the use of student personally identifiable information to:(1) Use adaptive learning or design personalized or customized education;(2) Maintain, develop, support, improve, or d…

(a) (1) (A) The parent or guardian of any child or ward whose place of residence is at least fifteen (15) miles from the school in the resident district and whose place of residence is within seven (7) miles of a school in an adjoining district may petition the board of directors…

(a) Upon the petition of a student residing in one (1) school district, the resident district, to transfer to another school district, the receiving district, the board of directors of the resident district may enter into an agreement with the board of directors of the receiving …

(a) The superintendent of a school district, or the superintendent's designee, accepting the transfer of a student from another district in the state shall make proper inquiry of the parents or guardian of the student to determine whether the student has proper contacts or other …

(a) Any student who becomes the victim of a violent criminal offense while in or on the grounds of an Arkansas public elementary, secondary, or public charter school or who is attending a persistently dangerous public school shall be allowed to attend a safe public school within …

(a) Every teacher shall seek to exercise wholesome discipline in his or her school and endeavor by precept and otherwise to instill and cultivate in the pupils good morals and gentle manners. (b) Classified school employees and volunteers shall have as a minimum the responsibilit…

(a) The Division of Elementary and Secondary Education shall establish rules for the development of school district student discipline policies. (b) Such rules shall include without limitation the following requirements:(1) Parents, students, and school district personnel, includ…

(a) (1) (A) Each school district in this state shall develop written student discipline policies in compliance with the rules established by the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education and shall file the policies with the division.(B) The rules required under subdivision (…

(a) The Division of Elementary and Secondary Education shall monitor compliance with the requirements of §§ 6-18-502 and 6-18-503, and the State Board of Education shall adopt rules for the administration of the requirements thereof. (b) Any school district failing to file with t…

(a) As used in this section:(1) “Course time” means the number of hours of instruction devoted to a single subject during the school week;(2) “Expulsion” means dismissal from school for a period of time that exceeds ten (10) days;(3) “Nontraditional scheduling” means block or oth…

The board of directors of any school district may adopt a policy that any person who has been expelled as a student from any other school district may not enroll as a student until the time of the person's expulsion has expired, provided that the receiving school district board o…

(a) Consistent with state and federal law, a teacher may remove a student from class and send him or her to the principal's or principal's designee's office in order to maintain effective discipline in the classroom. (b) A teacher may remove from class a student:(1) Who has been …

Each school district shall adopt a policy providing for the seizure by school personnel of hand-held laser pointers in the possession of students.