Title 6, Education

(a) Each public school district is responsible for posting its annual comprehensive school counseling plan on the district website under “State-Required Information”. (b) (1) Beginning with the 2020-2021 school year, the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education shall monito…

(a) Under the penalty for noncompliance set by law, every parent, legal guardian, person having lawful control of the child, or person standing in loco parentis residing within the State of Arkansas and having custody or charge of a child five (5) years of age through seventeen (…

(a) As used in this section:(1) “In loco parentis” means relating to the responsibility to undertake the care and control of another person in the absence of:(A) Supervision by the person's parent or legal guardian; and(B) Formal legal approval;(2) “Reside” means to be physically…

(a) The school-age children of a person who owns land meeting at least one (1) of the following conditions shall be eligible to attend the school in either of the school districts in which the person's tract of land or principal place of residence is located, regardless of the lo…

(a) The title of this section shall be “An Act Making It Legal for a Student Living in One School District to Attend School in Another School District under Specified Conditions”. (b) A student may attend school in another district under the following conditions:(1) A student in …

(a) A school district that admits for ten (10) school days or more a student the school district knows, or should have known, is a resident of another school district not included in a tuition agreement, or not officially transferred to the school district, is liable to the resid…

(a) (1) A student may enter kindergarten in the public schools of this state if he or she will attain the age of five (5) years on or before August 1 of the year in which he or she is seeking initial enrollment.(2) Any student who has been enrolled in a state-accredited or state-…

(a) Before a child's admission to an Arkansas public school, a school district shall request the parent, legal guardian, person having lawful control, or person standing in loco parentis to furnish the child's Social Security number and shall inform the parent, legal guardian, pe…

(a) The board of directors of each school district in this state shall adopt student attendance policies. (b) Each school district, as a part of its six-year educational plan, shall develop strategies for promoting maximum student attendance, including, but not limited to, the us…

(1) The General Assembly finds that:(1) Forty-seven (47) states have established farm to school programs to improve the health of children through the support of the following three (3) core elements:(A) School gardens;(B) Food, nutrition, and agriculture education; and(C) Procur…

As used in this subchapter, “local farm or food products” means food products that are grown in Arkansas or packaged and processed in Arkansas, or both.

(a) A farm to school and early childhood education program is established within the Department of Agriculture for the purposes of:(1) Improving student health;(2) Developing an educated agricultural workforce;(3) Enriching the local farm or food products system and supporting th…

(a) (1) A record of pupil attendance shall be kept by each school district of the state in a format prescribed by the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education.(2) (A) This basic record, showing the daily attendance and absence of each student for the school year, shall be k…

(a) In addition to the records required by § 6-18-213, a record of students who have left school without having completed requirements for high school graduation shall be kept by each school district of the state on forms provided by the Division of Elementary and Secondary Educa…

(a) (1) (A) On or before October 1 of each school year, a public school shall conduct a census of all students enrolled at the school to arrive at a school enrollment census total for each grade.(B) The number of students transferring into the school October 1 through September 3…

(a) It shall be the duty of each teacher in the public schools of Arkansas to keep an accurate record of attendance and nonattendance of all children enrolled in his or her class or classes. (b) Any teacher failing to keep such record may have his or her license revoked for such …

(1) Any teacher, principal, superintendent, or any other person whose duty it is to make reports as to the schools of the county who shall make a false report to the State Board of Education as to the number of children enumerated, the number enrolled in school, or the number in …

(a) The General Assembly finds and declares that:(1) The National FFA Organization, Family, Career and Community Leaders of America, Inc., and 4-H programs in the state involve an education and learning process that is not otherwise available in the regular curriculum of secondar…

This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Arkansas Student Protection Act”.

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) (A) “Abortion” means the act of using or prescribing an instrument, medicine, drug, device, or other substance or means with the intent to terminate the clinically diagnosable pregnancy of a woman with knowledge that the termination by those mea…

(1) A public school or open-enrollment public charter school shall not knowingly enter into any type of transaction with an individual or entity that:(1) Performs abortions;(2) Induces abortions;(3) Provides abortions; or(4) Offers or provides abortion referrals. (1) Performs abo…

(a) The Division of Elementary and Secondary Education shall promulgate rules to implement this subchapter. (b) Each public school and open-enrollment public charter school shall promulgate policies for the implementation of this subchapter and the rules promulgated by the divisi…

(a) Any public school district may enter into a cooperative agreement with local law enforcement officials to implement within the district an “Operation Stay in School Program”. (b) Upon the request of the board of directors of the school district, the law enforcement agency sha…

(a) (1) (A) (i) The board of directors of each school district in this state shall adopt a student attendance policy, as provided for in § 6-18-209, which shall include a certain number of unexcused absences that may be used as a basis for denial of course credit, promotion, or g…

(a) (1) A public school student who is enrolled in a public school in Arkansas and who has successfully completed the eighth grade shall be eligible to enroll in a publicly supported community college or four-year college or university in accordance with rules adopted by each ins…

Any student who is enrolled in a public high school in Arkansas and has earned the number of credits required by the local school district for graduation shall be eligible to graduate from the high school without regard to the grade level the student is enrolled in at the time su…

As used in this section and § 6-18-226, “community truancy board” means a board composed of members of the local community in which the child attends school.

(a) The local school district boards of directors may create a community truancy board or may use other boards that exist or are created such as diversion boards. However, a diversion or other existing board must agree before it is used as a community truancy board. (b) Members o…

(a) (1) This section may be referred to and cited as the “Arkansas Opportunity Public School Choice Act”.(2) (A) The purpose of this section is to provide enhanced opportunity for students in this state to gain the knowledge and skills necessary for postsecondary education, a tec…

Any student who is enrolled in a public school in a school district that is administratively consolidated by § 6-13-1601 et seq., § 6-13-1405(a)(5) [repealed], and § 6-20-602 [repealed] may be eligible, at the discretion of the local school district board of directors, to attend …

If a student is invited by a member of the General Assembly to serve as a page for the General Assembly during a legislative session, the student shall be considered on instructional assignment and shall not be considered absent from school for the one (1) day the student is serv…

(a) (1) A child may enter a prekindergarten program for children three (3) years of age if the child will attain three (3) years of age on or before August 1 immediately preceding the beginning of the school year.(2) A child may enter a prekindergarten program for children four (…

This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Philanthropic Investment in Arkansas Kids Program Act”.

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Educational scholarship” means a grant to a qualified student that covers all or part of the tuition and fees at a private school;(2) “Eligible contribution” means a monetary contribution from a taxpayer to a scholarship-granting organization o…

There is created the Philanthropic Investment in Arkansas Kids Program.

(a) (1) For tax years beginning on and after January 1, 2022, a taxpayer may claim a state income tax credit against the taxes imposed by the Income Tax Act of 1929, § 26-51-101 et seq., for one hundred percent (100%) of eligible contributions made to a scholarship-granting organ…

(1) The average amount of all educational scholarships awarded by a scholarship-granting organization to qualified students under this subchapter shall not exceed:(1) Eighty percent (80%) of the previous school year's foundation funding amount under § 6-20-2305(a)(2) for qualifie…

(1) Each scholarship-granting organization shall:(1) Notify the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education of its intent to provide educational scholarships to qualified students attending private schools;(2) Demonstrate proof of exemption from federal income tax under 26 U.S…

(a) (1) The Department of Finance and Administration, in consultation with the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education, shall create and provide a standardized form of receipt to be issued by a scholarship-granting organization to a taxpayer who makes an eligible contribut…

A taxpayer may instruct his or her employer to divert a prorated amount of after-tax earnings to one (1) or more scholarship-granting organizations of the taxpayer's choice.

A student who joins the Arkansas National Guard at seventeen (17) years of age while in grade eleven (11) shall be granted additional absences at the discretion of the school district superintendent in order to complete basic combat training between grades eleven (11) and twelve …

(a) Except as provided under subsection (d) of this section, a public school district or an open-enrollment public charter school shall adopt a policy that allows a student who attends a private school or a home school to enroll in an academic course at a public school or an open…

(a) As used in this section, “foster parent” means the person or entity having custody or charge of a foster child. (b) (1) (A) A foster parent or the foster child, if the foster child is over eighteen (18) years of age, may request the Department of Human Services to approve the…

(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…