The bill amends the public school start date requirements in Arkansas by establishing that each public school district board of directors or governing entity of an open-enrollment public charter school shall create a policy to determine the first day of the school year for student attendance. The previous stipulations that the school year must start on or after the Monday of the week in which August 19 falls, not earlier than August 14, and not later than August 26 have been removed. Instead, the new language mandates that the start date must comply with the number of student-teacher interaction days or hours required by the Standards for Accreditation of Arkansas Public Schools and School Districts established by the State Board of Education.

Additionally, the bill maintains that Labor Day will be recognized as a school holiday across all school districts, prohibiting classes on that day. The previous provision allowing the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education to grant waivers for starting school on different dates due to exceptional circumstances has been deleted, indicating a shift towards a more standardized approach to school start dates without the possibility of exceptions.

Statutes affected:
Old version HB1051 V2 - 1-15-2025 11:53 AM: 6-10-106(a)
Old version HB1051 Original - 11-21-2024 11:20 AM: 6-10-106(a)
HB 1051: 6-10-106(a)