Title 6, Education

(a) The General Assembly recognizes that the effective use of volunteers in the public schools can provide greater opportunities for students to participate in school-sponsored extracurricular and interscholastic activities, which many local school districts otherwise could not p…

This chapter may be cited as the “Arkansas Registered Volunteers Program Act”.

(1) As used in this chapter:(1) “Extracurricular activity” means any intraschool activity that is outside the regular curriculum, including, but not limited to, sports and special interest clubs or groups;(2) “Interscholastic activity” means any interschool activity that is outsi…

(a) Each local school district may develop a registered volunteers program and may accept the services of volunteers who qualify under the program to assist in extracurricular and interscholastic activities that are sponsored by the district. (b) A school district that develops a…

(a) The superintendent of any school district that develops a registered volunteers program under this chapter shall require all potential registered volunteers to meet the following qualifications before the volunteers have any significant unsupervised contact with students:(1) …

Qualified volunteers in a registered volunteers program shall enjoy the protection of the state's sovereign immunity to the same extent as the local school district's employees.

(a) The provisions of this chapter shall apply to those schools and institutions that voluntarily join the Arkansas Activities Association. (b) A volunteer or registered volunteer may act as a head coach in all varsity junior high sports and senior high sports administered by the…

Except as provided specifically under this chapter, none of the provisions of this chapter prohibits a school district from utilizing the services of the volunteers who operate under the supervision of licensed school personnel.

(a) (1) An eligible entity may apply to the authorizer for adult education charter school status for an adult education program that offers a curriculum that culminates in:(A) A high school diploma; and(B) An industry certification.(2) An adult education charter school shall be r…

(1) The authorizer shall review an application for an adult education public charter school and may approve an application that:(1) Provides an acceptable plan for meeting the industry needs for a sufficiently trained workforce in the state;(2) Includes a set of performance crite…

(a) The authorizer may allow an applicant to resubmit an application for an adult education public charter school if the original application was, in the opinion of the authorizer, deficient in one (1) or more respects. (b) The Division of Elementary and Secondary Education may p…

(a) An approved adult education charter school shall have an enrollment cap of no more than three hundred fifty (350) students. (b) A person who is at least nineteen (19) years of age may enroll in an adult education charter school if the person has:(1) Not earned a high school d…

(a) Funding for an adult education charter school shall not be provided through the Public School Fund. (b) Funding for an adult education charter school may come from public or private sources, including from the eligible entity that operates an adult education charter school.

The authorizer may renew the charter of an adult education charter school on a one-year or multiyear basis.

(1) The Division of Elementary and Secondary Education shall report to the Senate Committee on Education and the House Committee on Education by December 1 each year concerning:(1) Evaluations of any adult education charter schools operating under this subchapter in the state, in…

(a) The State Board of Education may adopt rules for adult education public charter schools, including without limitation rules that address:(1) Industry needs in the state;(2) Standardized secondary exit-level assessment instruments appropriate for assessing adult education char…

This chapter shall be known and cited as the “Arkansas Quality Charter Schools Act of 2013”.

(1) It is the intent of the General Assembly, by this chapter, to provide opportunities for teachers, parents, pupils, and community members to establish and maintain public schools that operate independently from the existing structure of local school districts as a method to ac…

(1) As used in this chapter:(1) “Adult education charter school” means a charter school for individuals at least nineteen (19) years of age that offers a high school diploma program and an industry certification program simultaneously to students;(2) “Applicant” means an eligible…

(a) A charter for a public charter school shall:(1) Be in the form of a written contract signed by the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education and an authorized member of the charter school board;(2) Satisfy the requirements of this chapter; and(3) Ensure that the info…

(a) (1) The authorizer may place a public charter school on probation or may modify, revoke, transfer, assign, or deny renewal of its charter if the authorizer determines that the persons operating the public charter school:(A) Committed a material violation of the charter, inclu…

(a) The applicants for a public charter school, the local school district board of directors for the district in which a proposed public charter school would be located, and the authorizer shall carefully review the potential impact of an application for a public charter school o…

(a) A public charter school shall submit a report, as prescribed in its charter and performance framework, to the authorizer in the format required by the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education that contains the following information without limitation:(1) Enrollment data…

(a) The authorizer may designate a public charter school as a “School for Agricultural Studies”. (b) To be designated as a “School for Agricultural Studies”, the applicant must include in its original application or charter amendment request:(1) A request to be designated as a “S…

(a) The authorizer may designate a public charter school as a community school, as defined by § 6-15-3002. (b) To be designated as a community school, the applicant shall include in its original application or charter amendment request:(1) A request to be designated as a communit…

Any public school district may apply to the authorizer for conversion public charter school status for a public school in the public school district in accordance with a schedule approved by the authorizer using the application developed by the Division of Elementary and Secondar…

Upon request of a conversion public charter school applicant, the authorizer shall review the application for conversion public charter school status and may approve or deny an application.

(a) If the authorizer disapproves an application for a conversion public charter school, the authorizer shall notify the applicant in writing of the reasons for the disapproval. (b) The Division of Elementary and Secondary Education may provide technical assistance to the convers…

The authorizer may renew charters of conversion public charter schools on a one-year or multiyear basis, not to exceed five (5) years, after the initial five-year period if the renewal is approved by the local school district board of directors.

If a licensed teacher employed by a public school district in the school year immediately preceding the effective date of the charter is employed by a conversion public charter school and the charter is revoked, the licensed teacher will receive a priority in hiring for the first…

The State Board of Education is authorized and directed to establish rules for conversion public charter schools.

(1) The authorizer shall adopt:(1) An application form, a schedule, and a procedure that must be used to apply for a charter for an open-enrollment public charter school; and(2) Criteria to use in selecting a program for which a charter may be granted. (1) An application form, a …

(a) Pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, an eligible entity may apply to the authorizer to grant a charter for an open-enrollment public charter school to operate in a facility of a commercial or nonprofit entity or a public school district. (b) The application to the auth…

(1) Upon request of an applicant for an open-enrollment public charter school, the authorizer shall review the application for an open-enrollment public charter school and may approve any application that:(1) Provides a plan for academic achievement that addresses how the open-en…

(a) The authorizer may approve or deny an application based on:(1) Criteria provided by law or by rule adopted by the State Board of Education; and(2) Findings of the authorizer relating to improving student performance and encouraging innovative programs. (1) Criteria provided b…

(a) If the authorizer disapproves an application for an open-enrollment public charter school, the authorizer shall notify the applicant in writing of the reasons for such disapproval. (b) The Division of Elementary and Secondary Education may provide technical assistance to the …

(1) An open-enrollment public charter granted under this subchapter shall:(1) Describe the educational program to be offered;(2) Specify the period for which the open-enrollment public charter or any renewal is valid;(3) Provide that the continuation or renewal of the open-enroll…

(a) (1) After the initial five-year period of an open-enrollment public charter, the authorizer may renew the open-enrollment public charter on a one-year or multiyear basis, not to exceed twenty (20) years.(2) A renewal decision shall be based on the academic, financial, and ope…

If a licensed teacher employed by a public school district in the school year immediately preceding the effective date of the open-enrollment public charter is employed by an open-enrollment public charter school and the open-enrollment public charter is revoked, the licensed tea…

The State Board of Education is authorized to promulgate rules for the creation of open-enrollment public charter schools.

(1) The authorizer shall report to the General Assembly each biennium and to the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education during the interim between regular sessions of the General Assembly:(1) The status of the open-enrollment public charter school prog…

(a) An open-enrollment public charter school:(1) Shall be governed by an eligible entity that is fiscally accountable and under the governing structure as described by the charter;(2) Shall provide instruction to students at one (1) or more elementary or secondary grade levels as…

(a) An open-enrollment public charter school may enroll a number of students not to exceed the number of students specified in its charter. (b) Open-enrollment public charter schools shall keep records of attendance in accordance with the law and submit quarterly attendance repor…

Any other provisions of the Arkansas Code notwithstanding, an open-enrollment public charter school shall be subject to the same auditing and accounting requirements as any other public school district in the state.

(a) The Division of Elementary and Secondary Education shall conduct an annual evaluation of open-enrollment public charter schools. (b) An annual evaluation shall be based on a review of the criteria that is specified in the public charter school's charter and the public charter…

The Division of Elementary and Secondary Education shall monitor open-enrollment public charter schools with regard to student enrollment and budgetary compliance.