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Arkansas Senate Bill SB361

Arkansas 2023 Regular Session

Arkansas Senate Bill SB361 Compare Versions

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11 Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
2-Act 630 of the Regular Session
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54 State of Arkansas As Engrossed: H3/29/23 1
65 94th General Assembly A Bill 2
76 Regular Session, 2023 SENATE BILL 361 3
87 4
98 By: Senator M. McKee 5
109 By: Representative C. Cooper 6
1110 7
1211 For An Act To Be Entitled 8
1312 AN ACT CONCERNING TH E PARTICIPATION OF H OMESCHOOLED 9
1413 STUDENTS IN INTERSCH OLASTIC ACTIVITIES; AND FOR OTHER 10
1514 PURPOSES. 11
1615 12
1716 13
1817 Subtitle 14
1918 CONCERNING THE PARTICIPATION OF 15
2019 HOMESCHOOLED STUDENTS IN INTERSCHOLASTIC 16
2120 ACTIVITIES. 17
2221 18
2322 19
2423 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 20
2524 21
2625 SECTION 1. Arkansas Code § 6 -15-509 is amended to read as follows: 22
2726 6-15-509. Participation of home-schooled homeschooled students in 23
2827 interscholastic activities — Definitions. 24
2928 (a) The General Assembly recognizes that all students should have 25
3029 equal access to interscholastic activities as a complement to the academic 26
3130 curriculum. 27
3231 (b) As used in this section: 28
3332 (1) “Athletic activity” means a varsity sport or another 29
3433 competitive sports-related contest, game, event, or exhibition that involves 30
3534 an individual student or teams of students either among schools within the 31
3635 resident school district or between schools outside of the resident school 32
3736 district; 33
3837 (2) “Home-schooled Homeschooled student” means a student legally 34
3938 enrolled in an Arkansas home school; 35
4039 (3) “Interscholastic activity” means an activity between schools 36 As Engrossed: H3/29/23 SB361
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4544 subject to rules of the Arkansas Activities Association t hat is: 1
4645 (A) Outside the regular curriculum of a school district, 2
4746 including without limitation an athletic activity, a fine arts program, or a 3
4847 special interest club or group; and 4
4948 (B) Taught by an individual with a minimum of a high 5
5049 school diploma; 6
5150 (4) “Parent” is a: 7
5251 (A) Legal guardian; or 8
5352 (B) Legal custodian; 9
5453 (5) “Resident school” is the school to which the student would 10
5554 be assigned by the resident school district; and 11
5655 (6) “Resident school district” means the school district in 12
5756 which the home-schooled homeschooled student's parent resides as determined 13
5857 under § 6-18-202. 14
5958 (c)(1)(A) Except as provided in subdivision (c)(2) (c)(1)(B)(ii) of 15
6059 this section, a home-schooled homeschooled student shall not participate in 16
6160 interscholastic activities at a public school other than the student's 17
6261 resident school. 18
6362 (B)(i) A home-schooled homeschooled student may 19
6463 participate in interscholastic activities at a public school other than the 20
6564 home-schooled homeschooled student's resident school by mutual agreement 21
6665 between the resident school district and any other public school district 22
6766 where the home-schooled homeschooled student wishes to participate. 23
6867 (ii) However, a homeschooled student may p articipate 24
6968 in an interscholastic activity at a public school other than the homeschooled 25
7069 student's resident school without a mutual agreement, as required under 26
7170 subdivision (c)(1)(B)(i) of this section, if the: 27
7271 (a) Homeschooled student's resident sch ool 28
7372 does not offer the interscholastic activity; and 29
7473 (b) Superintendent of the other public school 30
7574 district agrees to allow the homeschooled student to enroll in the 31
7675 interscholastic activity. 32
7776 (2) A home-schooled student approved under subdivision (c)(1)(B) 33
7877 of this section to participate in interscholastic activities at a public 34
7978 school other than the home -schooled student's resident school may begin 35
8079 participating: 36 As Engrossed: H3/29/23 SB361
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8584 (A) In an interscholastic activity that is not an athletic 1
8685 activity immediately upon being approved to participate; and 2
8786 (B)(i)(a) Except as provided in subdivision (c)(2)(B)(ii) 3
8887 of this section, in an interscholastic activity that is an athletic activity 4
8988 one (1) calendar year after being approved to participate. 5
9089 (b) A home-schooled student under subdivision 6
9190 (c)(2)(B)(i)(a) of this section may immediately participate in rehearsals, 7
9291 tryouts, practices, auditions, classes, or other endeavors associated with 8
9392 the interscholastic activity that is an athletic activity. 9
9493 (ii)(iii) A home-schooled homeschooled student may 10
9594 begin participating in an interscholastic activity that is an athletic 11
9695 activity immediately upon being approved to participate if the home-schooled 12
9796 homeschooled student is approved to participate by July 1 of the s chool year 13
9897 for which the home-schooled homeschooled student will be enrolled in grade 14
9998 seven (7). 15
10099 (3)(2) A home-schooled homeschooled student shall not 16
101100 participate in interscholastic activities at more than one (1) public school 17
102101 at the same time. 18
103102 (d) A resident school district may shall permit a home-schooled 19
104103 homeschooled student to participate pursue participation in an 20
105104 interscholastic activity if: 21
106105 (1) For the purpose of subsection (g) of this section, the home-22
107106 schooled homeschooled student reports to the resident school district within 23
108107 the first eleven (11) days of the fall or spring semester of the resident 24
109108 school district; and 25
110109 (2) The home-schooled homeschooled student or his or her parent 26
111110 advises the principal of the resident school in w riting of the home-schooled 27
112111 homeschooled student's request to participate in the interscholastic activity 28
113112 before the signup, tryout, or participation deadlines established for 29
114113 students enrolled in the resident school. 30
115114 (e) The principal of the resident sc hool shall permit a home-schooled 31
116115 homeschooled student to pursue participation in an interscholastic activity 32
117116 of the resident school if the home-schooled homeschooled student or the home-33
118117 schooled homeschooled student's parent: 34
119118 (1) Before the signup, try out, or participation deadlines 35
120119 established for students enrolled in the resident school, provides to the 36 As Engrossed: H3/29/23 SB361
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125124 principal a notice of the home-schooled homeschooled student's desire to 1
126125 pursue participation; and 2
127126 (2) Informs the principal in the notice that the home-schooled 3
128127 homeschooled student has demonstrated academic eligibility by obtaining: 4
129128 (A) A minimum test score of the thirtieth percentile on 5
130129 the Stanford Achievement Test Series, Tenth Edition, or another nationally 6
131130 recognized norm-referenced test in the previous twelve (12) months; or 7
132131 (B) A minimum score on a test approved by the State Board 8
133132 of Education. 9
134133 (f) If a home-schooled homeschooled student's written request to 10
135134 participate in the interscholastic activity is approved under this section, 11
136135 the home-schooled homeschooled student: 12
137136 (1) Although not guaranteed participation in an interscholastic 13
138137 activity, shall have an equal opportunity to try out and participate in 14
139138 interscholastic activities without discrimination; and 15
140139 (2) Shall not participate unless he or she meets the criteria 16
141140 for participation in the interscholastic activity that apply to students 17
142141 enrolled in the resident school district, including: 18
143142 (A) Tryout criteria; 19
144143 (B) Standards of behavior and codes of conduct; 20
145144 (C) The academic criteria under subdivision (e)(2) of this 21
146145 section; 22
147146 (D) Practice times; 23
148147 (E) Required drug testing; 24
149148 (F) Permission slips, waivers, and physical exams; and 25
150149 (G) Participation or activity fees. 26
151150 (g) A home-schooled homeschooled student who participates in an 27
152151 interscholastic activity may be: 28
153152 (1) Required to be at school not more than one (1) period per 29
154153 school day only when participation in the interscholastic activity requires 30
155154 other students who participate in the interscholast ic activity to be at 31
156155 school; and 32
157156 (2) Transported by the resident school district to and from 33
158157 interscholastic activities as the resident school district transports other 34
159158 students who are enrolled in the resident school ; and 35
160159 (3) Enrolled by his or her resident school district in a 36 As Engrossed: H3/29/23 SB361
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165164 nonacademic class period that coincides with the interscholastic activity in 1
166165 which the homeschooled student participates in order for the resident school 2
167166 district to receive an amount equal to one -sixth (1/6) of the state 3
168167 foundation funding amount provided under § 6 -20-2305 for the duration of 4
169168 homeschooled student's enrollment in the resident school district . 5
170169 (h)(1)(A) A student who withdraws from an Arkansas Activities 6
171170 Association member school to be home-schooled shall not participate in an 7
172171 interscholastic activity in the resident school district for a minimum of 8
173172 three hundred sixty-five (365) days after the student withdraws from the 9
174173 member school and enrolls in a home school shall immediately be eligible to 10
175174 participate in any interscholastic activity at a public school . 11
176175 (B)(i) However, a homeschooled student shall not be 12
177176 eligible to participate in an interscholastic activity that is a varsity 13
178177 sport in the public school district if he or she withdrew from an 14
179178 interscholastic activity that is a varsity sport at the resident school 15
180179 district during the previous three hundred sixty -five (365) days. 16
181180 (ii) A homeschooled student who is not eligible to 17
182181 participate in an interscholastic activity under this subsecti on may 18
183182 participate in tryouts, practices, classes, or other endeavors associated 19
184183 with the interscholastic activity. 20
185184 (2) A homeschooled student who has not withdrawn from an 21
186185 Arkansas Activities Association member school may begin participating in an 22
187186 interscholastic activity in a public school district immediately upon being 23
188187 approved to participate by the public school district. 24
189188 (i)(1) A public school shall provide a reasonable alternative to any 25
190189 prerequisite for eligibility to participate in an intersch olastic activity 26
191190 that the home-schooled homeschooled student is unable to meet because of his 27
192191 or her enrollment in a home school. 28
193192 (2) The alternative under subdivision (i)(1) of this section 29
194193 shall provide the home-schooled homeschooled student with the same 30
195194 opportunity to participate in an interscholastic activity as a public school 31
196195 student. 32
197196 33
198197 SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 6 -15-510(d) and (e), concerning 34
199198 participation of homeschooled students in interscholastic activities at 35
200199 private schools, are amended to read as follows: 36 As Engrossed: H3/29/23 SB361
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205204 (d) A home-schooled homeschooled student who participates in an 1
206205 interscholastic activity may be: 2
207206 (1) Required to be at the private school not more than one (1) 3
208207 period per school day only when participation in the in terscholastic activity 4
209208 requires other students who participate in the interscholastic activity to be 5
210209 at school; and 6
211210 (2) Transported by the private school to and from 7
212211 interscholastic activities as the private school transports other students 8
213212 who are enrolled in the private school. 9
214213 (e)(1)(A) A student who withdraws from an Arkansas Activities 10
215214 Association member school to be home-schooled homeschooled shall not be 11
216215 eligible to participate in an any interscholastic activity in a private 12
217216 school for a minimum of three hundred sixty -five (365) days after the student 13
218217 withdraws from the member school . 14
219218 (B) However, a homeschooled student shall not be eligible 15
220219 to participate in an interscholastic activity that is a varsity sport in the 16
221220 private school if he or s he withdrew from an interscholastic activity that is 17
222221 a varsity sport at an Arkansas Activities Association member school during 18
223222 the previous three hundred sixty -five (365) days. 19
224223 (2) A student who has not withdrawn from an Arkansas Activities 20
225224 Association member school to become home-schooled homeschooled may begin 21
226225 participating in an interscholastic activity in a private school immediately 22
227226 upon being approved to participate. 23
228227 24
229228 /s/M. McKee 25
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232-APPROVED: 4/11/23 28
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