Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
Act 544 of the Regular Session
1 State of Arkansas As Engrossed: S3/3/21
2 93rd General Assembly A Bill
3 Regular Session, 2021 SENATE BILL 64
4
5 By: Senator Irvin
6
7 For An Act To Be Entitled
8 AN ACT TO AMEND VARIOUS PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS
9 CODE CONCERNING PUBLIC EDUCATION; AND FOR OTHER
10 PURPOSES.
11
12
13 Subtitle
14 TO AMEND VARIOUS PROVISIONS OF THE
15 ARKANSAS CODE CONCERNING PUBLIC
16 EDUCATION.
17
18
19 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS:
20
21 SECTION 1. Arkansas Code 6-10-122(a)(1), concerning the automated
22 external defibrillator requirement, is amended to read as follows:
23 (a)(1) The State Board of Education shall promulgate rules to require
24 that:
25 (A) Each school campus have an automated external
26 defibrillator; and
27 (B) Appropriate school personnel be adequately trained on
28 or before May 31, 2011; and
29 (C)(B) After May 31, 2011, appropriate Appropriate school
30 personnel be adequately trained on an ongoing basis.
31
32 SECTION 2. Arkansas Code 6-10-122(c), concerning the automated
33 external defibrillator requirement, is amended to read as follows:
34 (c) Beginning in 2011, the The Commissioner of Elementary and
35 Secondary Education shall provide a report to the Senate Committee on Public
36 Health, Welfare, and Labor and the House Committee on Public Health, Welfare,
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1 and Labor on or before July 1 each year regarding the implementation of this
2 section and the status of automated external defibrillator availability on
3 each school campus.
4
5 SECTION 3. Arkansas Code 6-10-123(a)(3), concerning school-based
6 automated external defibrillator and cardiopulmonary resuscitation programs,
7 is amended to read as follows:
8 (3) Testing of psychomotor skills based on the American Heart
9 Association scientific guidelines, standards, and recommendations for the use
10 of the automated external defibrillator, as they existed on January 1, 2009,
11 January 1, 2021, and for providing cardiopulmonary resuscitation as published
12 by the American Heart Association, or the American Red Cross as they existed
13 on January 1, 2021, or in equivalent course materials, as they existed on
14 January 1, 2009;
15
16 SECTION 4. Arkansas Code 6-10-127(b)(1), concerning making up missed
17 school days, is amended to read as follows to update an outdated reference:
18 (b)(1) The Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education may
19 grant up to the equivalent of ten (10) student attendance days for public
20 school districts that have an alternative instruction plan approved by the
21 commissioner for the use of alternative methods of instruction, including
22 without limitation virtual learning, on days when the public school district
23 is closed due to exceptional or emergency circumstances such as:
24 (A) A contagious disease outbreak, inclement weather, or
25 other acts of God; or
26 (B) A utility outage.
27
28 SECTION 5. Arkansas Code 6-13-102 is amended to read as follows:
29 6-13-102. Body corporate Name.
30 (a) Each school district in the state shall be a body corporate, may
31 contract and be contracted with, and may sue and be sued in its corporate
32 name, which shall be the name it now currently has unless changed by the
33 State Board of Education.
34 (b) A certificate showing the name authenticated by the state board
35 shall be filed with the county clerk of the county or of each county in which
36 there is any territory of the school district and by him or her inscribed in
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1 a book kept by him or her for that purpose.
2 (c)(b) A school district may acquire and hold real estate and other
3 classes of property.
4
5 SECTION 6. Arkansas Code 6-13-112(a), concerning the
6 responsibilities of the State Board of Education and Commissioner of
7 Education regarding school districts under state authority, is amended to
8 read as follows to update an outdated reference:
9 (a) Within ten (10) days of the meeting of the State Board of
10 Education at which the state board assumes authority of a school district or
11 within ten (10) days of the date upon which the Commissioner of Elementary
12 and Secondary Education assumes authority of a school district, the
13 commissioner shall provide the following information to the Chair of the
14 House Committee on Education and the Chair of the Senate Committee on
15 Education:
16 (1) A clear statement of the reasons the district has been
17 placed under the authority of the state board or the commissioner; and
18 (2) A clear statement of the steps necessary for the school
19 district to remove itself from the authority of the state board or the
20 commissioner.
21
22 SECTION 7. Arkansas Code 6-13-1004(a), concerning requests and
23 requirements for the establishment of education service cooperatives, is
24 amended to read as follows to update an outdated reference:
25 (a) Education service cooperatives shall be established when seventy-
26 five percent (75%) of the school districts in a proposed education service
27 cooperative area request such action by formal resolutions filed by the
28 school district boards of directors with the Commissioner of Elementary and
29 Secondary Education.
30
31 SECTION 8. Arkansas Code 6-13-1309(b)(1), concerning alternative
32 models for implementing site-based decision making, is amended to read as
33 follows to update an outdated reference:
34 (b)(1) The local school building site shall submit the model through
35 the local school district board of directors to the Commissioner of
36 Elementary and Secondary Education and the State Board of Education for
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1 approval.
2
3 SECTION 9. Arkansas Code 6-14-122(b), concerning consolidation,
4 annexation, or mergers of school districts, is amended to read as follows to
5 update an outdated reference:
6 (b) The boards of directors of the school districts may, by resolution
7 duly adopted and with the approval of the Commissioner of Elementary and
8 Secondary Education, set a date for the annual school election in that year
9 for the school districts involved on a date other than the date set in 6-
10 14-102 for all school districts, provided only one (1) annual school election
11 may be held in any school district in one (1) calendar year.
12
13 SECTION 10. Arkansas Code 6-15-101 is repealed.
14 6-15-101. Academic standards and expected outcomes.
15 By September 1, 2003, and as updates are necessary each year
16 thereafter, the State Board of Education shall:
17 (1) Define and publish academic standards and expected outcomes
18 for students in prekindergarten through grade twelve (preK-12);
19 (2) Require that the academic standards and expected outcomes be
20 adopted by local school district boards of directors; and
21 (3) Require that the academic standards and expected outcomes be
22 implemented by local school districts.
23
24 SECTION 11. Arkansas Code 6-15-503(a)(3)(E)-(G), concerning
25 prerequisites to home schooling, are amended to read as follows:
26 (E) A statement of plans to seek a high school equivalency
27 diploma during the current school year; and
28 (F)(i) A statement of plans to seek a driver's license
29 during the current school year.
30 (ii) If a parent or legal guardian includes the
31 information under subdivision (a)(3)(F)(i) of this section, the notice shall
32 include a notarized signature of the parent or legal guardian; and
33 (G)(F) A The signature of the parent or legal guardian.
34
35 SECTION 12. Arkansas Code 6-15-1007(c), concerning the Arkansas
36 Leadership Academy, is amended to read as follows:
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1 (c) The State Board of Education shall have the authority to issue
2 requests for proposals qualifications and to use other appropriate
3 procurement methods if the state board should determine to change determines
4 that the operator or the location of the academy should be changed.
5
6 SECTION 13. Arkansas Code 6-15-1701(5), concerning the findings of
7 the General Assembly regarding parental involvement plans, is amended to read
8 as follows:
9 (5) Schools should foster and support active parental
10 involvement parent and family engagement.
11
12 SECTION 14. Arkansas Code 6-15-1702(a), concerning parental
13 involvement plans, is amended to read as follows:
14 (a) Each public school district and each public school within its
15 boundaries, in collaboration with parents, shall establish a parental
16 involvement plan, including programs and practices that enhance parental
17 involvement parent and family engagement and reflect the specific needs of
18 students and their families.
19
20 SECTION 15. Arkansas Code 6-15-1702(b), concerning parental
21 involvement plans, is amended to read as follows:
22 (b) The parental involvement program parent and family engagement plan
23 in each school shall:
24 (1) Involve parents of students at all grade levels in a variety
25 of roles;
26 (2) Be comprehensive and coordinated in nature;
27 (3)(A) Recognize that communication between home and school
28 should be regular, two-way, consistent, open, and meaningful.
29 (B) To encourage communication with parents, the school
30 shall:
31 (i) Prepare an informational packet to be
32 distributed annually to the parent of each child in the school, appropriate
33 for the age and grade of the child, describing:
34 (a) The school's parental involvement program
35 parent and family engagement plan;
36 (b) The recommended role of the parent,
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1 family, student, teacher, and school;
2 (c) Ways for the parent and family to become
3 involved in the school and his or her child's the student's education;
4 (d) A survey for the parent regarding his or
5 her interests concerning volunteering at the school;
6 (e) Activities planned throughout the school
7 year to encourage parental involvement parent and family engagement; and
8 (f) A system to allow the parents and teachers
9 parent to communicate in a regular, two-way, consistent, open, and meaningful
10 manner with the child's teacher and the school principal; and
11 (ii) Schedule no fewer than two (2) parent-teacher
12 conferences per school year.
13 (C) The school may plan and engage in other activities
14 determined by the school to be beneficial to encourage communication with
15 parents;
16 (4)(A) Promote and support responsible parenting.
17 (B) To promote and support responsible parenting, the
18 school shall, as funds are available:
19 (i) Purchase parenting books, magazines, and other
20 informative material regarding responsible parenting through the school
21 library, advertise the current selection, and give parents an opportunity to
22 borrow the materials for review;
23 (ii) Create parent centers; and
24 (iii) Plan and engage in other activities determined by
25 the school to be beneficial to promoting and supporting responsible
26 parenting;
27 (5)(A) Acknowledge that parents and family play an integral role
28 in assisting student learning.
29 (B) To help parents in assisting students, the school
30 shall:
31 (i) Schedule regular parent involvement meetings at
32 which parents are given a report on the state of the school and an overview
33 of:
34 (a) What students will be learning;
35 (b) How students will be assessed;
36 (c) What a parent should expect for his or her
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1 child's education; and
2 (d) How a parent parents and family can assist
3 and make a difference in his or her child's the student's education;
4 (ii) Provide instruction to a parent on how to
5 incorporate developmentally appropriate learning activities in the home
6 environment, including without limitation:
7 (a) Role play and demonstration by trained
8 volunteers;
9 (b) The use of and access to Division of
10 Elementary and Secondary Education website tools for parents;
11 (c) Assistance with nutritional meal planning
12 and preparation; and
13 (d) Other strategies or curricula developed or
14 acquired by the school district for at-home parental instruction approved by
15 the division; and
16 (iii) Engage in other activities determined by the
17 school to help a parent parents and family assist in his or her child's the
18 student's learning;
19 (6)(A) Welcome parents into the school and seek parental support
20 and assistance.
21 (B) To welcome parents into the school, the school shall:
22 (i) Not have any school policies or procedures that
23 would discourage a parent from visiting the school or from visiting a child's
24 classrooms;
25 (ii) Encourage school staff to use the volunteer
26 surveys to compile a volunteer resource book listing the interests and
27 availability of volunteers so that school staff may:
28 (a) Determine how frequently a volunteer would
29 like to participate, including the option of just one (1) time per year;
30 (b) Include options for those who are
31 available to help at home; and
32 (c) Help match school needs with volunteer
33 interests; and
34 (iii) Engage in other activities determined by the
35 school to welcome parents into the school;
36 (7)(A) Recognize that a parent is a full partner in the
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1 decisions that affect his or her child and family.
2 (B) To encourage a parent to participate as a full partner
3 in the decisions that affect his or her child and family, the school shall:
4 (i) Include in the school's policy handbook the
5 school's process for resolving parental concerns, including how to define a
6 problem, whom to approach first, and how to develop solutions;
7 (ii) Sponsor seminars to inform the parents of high
8 school students about how to be involved in the decisions affecting course
9 selection, career planning, and preparation for postsecondary opportunities;
10 and
11 (iii) Engage in other activities that the school
12 determines will encourage a parent to participate as a full partner in the
13 decisions that affect his or her child and family;
14 (8)(A) Recognize that community resources strengthen school
15 programs, family practi