AR
Arkansas Senate Bill SB400

Arkansas 2023 Regular Session

Arkansas Senate Bill SB400 Compare Versions

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11 Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
2-Act 768 of the Regular Session
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5-State of Arkansas As Engrossed: S3/29/23 S3/30/23 S3/30/23 1
4+State of Arkansas As Engrossed: S3/29/23 S3/30/23 1
65 94th General Assembly A Bill 2
76 Regular Session, 2023 SENATE BILL 400 3
87 4
98 By: Senators A. Clark, L. Chesterfield, Dees, J. English, Flippo, B. Johnson, G. Leding, M. McKee, 5
109 Stone, C. Tucker, D. Wallace 6
1110 7
1211 For An Act To Be Entitled 8
1312 AN ACT TO AMEND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE ACT OF 2015; 9
1413 TO AMEND THE ARKANSA S OPPORTUNITY PUBLIC SCHOOL 10
1514 CHOICE ACT; TO ENSUR E A STUDENT WHO TRAN SFERS TO A 11
1615 NONRESIDENT DISTRICT IS AFFORDED CERTAIN 12
1716 OPPORTUNITIES AND RI GHTS; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 13
1817 14
1918 15
2019 Subtitle 16
2120 TO AMEND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE ACT OF 17
2221 2015; AND TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS 18
2322 OPPORTUNITY PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE ACT. 19
2423 20
2524 21
2625 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 22
2726 23
2827 SECTION 1. Arkansas Code § 6 -18-227, concerning the Arkansas 24
2928 Opportunity Public School Choice Act, is amended to add an additional 25
3029 subsection to read as follows: 26
3130 (m)(1) A student who transfers to another public school or a 27
3231 nonresident school district under this subchapter shall not be: 28
3332 (A) Denied participation in an extracurricular activity at 29
3433 the public school or nonresident school district to which he or she transfers 30
3534 based exclusively on his or her decision to transfer to the public school or 31
3635 nonresident school district; or 32
3736 (B) Disciplined in any manner based exclusively on the 33
3837 exercise of his or her right to transfer to another public school or a 34
3938 nonresident district under this subchapter. 35
40- (2)(A) However, a student who transfers to another public school 36 As Engrossed: S3/29/23 S3/30/23 S3/30/23 SB400
39+ (2)(A) However, a student who transfers to another public school 36 As Engrossed: S3/29/23 S3/30/23 SB400
4140
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4342
4443
4544 or a nonresident school district under this sect ion shall complete a Changing 1
4645 Schools/Athletic Participation form as defined by the Arkansas Activities 2
4746 Association. 3
4847 (B) A Changing Schools/Athletic Participation form shall 4
4948 be completed and filed with the: 5
5049 (i) Public school or nonresident school district to 6
5150 which the student transfers under this section; and 7
5251 (ii) Arkansas Activities Association. 8
5352 (C)(i) Before a student is eligible to participate in an 9
5453 extracurricular activity at the public school or nonresident school district 10
5554 to which he or she transfers, the Changing Schools/Athletic Participation 11
5655 form submitted by the student as required under subdivision (m)(2)(B) of this 12
5756 section shall be signed by the: 13
5857 (a) Superintendent of the student's resident 14
5958 school district; 15
6059 (b) Superintendent of the nonresident school 16
6160 district to which the student transfers; and 17
6261 (c) Parent, legal guardian, or person standing 18
6362 in loco parentis to the student. 19
6463 (ii) The superintendent of a student's resident 20
6564 school district and the superintende nt of the nonresident school district to 21
6665 which a student transfers shall sign the Changing Schools/Athletic 22
6766 Participation form unless there is demonstrable evidence: 23
6867 (a) Of recruiting by the receiving school 24
6968 district personnel; or 25
7069 (b) The student is transferring to the public 26
7170 school or nonresident school district solely for athletic purposes. 27
7271 (D) A Changing Schools/Athletic Participation form shall 28
7372 be used only for eligibility determination of a student who transfers to 29
7473 another public school or nonresident school district under this section and 30
7574 is enrolled in the receiving school district by July 1 before the student 31
7675 enters grades seven through twelve (7 -12). 32
7776 (E)(i) Public school district personnel and registered 33
7877 volunteers, as defin ed by the Arkansas Registered Volunteers Program Act, § 34
7978 6-22-101 et seq., shall not recruit students to the public school at which 35
80-they are employed or volunteer for athletic purposes. 36 As Engrossed: S3/29/23 S3/30/23 S3/30/23 SB400
79+they are employed or volunteer for athletic purposes. 36 As Engrossed: S3/29/23 S3/30/23 SB400
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85- (ii) As used in this section, "recruiting" means the 1
86-use of undue influence or special inducement by an individual who is 2
84+ (ii)(a) As used in this section, "recruiting" means 1
85+the use of undue influence or special inducement by an individual who is 2
8786 connected directly or indirectly with a school that is a member of the 3
8887 Arkansas Activities Association in an attempt to encourage, induce, pressure, 4
8988 urge, or entice a prospective student of any age to transfer to the school or 5
9089 retain a student at the school for the purpose of participating in 6
9190 extracurricular activities. 7
92- (3) As used in subdivision (m)(1) of this 8
93-section, "extracurricular activity" means an interschool activity not 9
94-included in a regular curriculum, including without limitation sports and 10
95-special interest clubs or groups. 11
96- 12
97- SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 6 -18-1904, concerning general provisions 13
98-for student transfers under the Public School Choice Act of 2015, is amended 14
99-to add an additional subsection to read as follows: 15
100- (f)(1) A student who transfers to another public school or a 16
101-nonresident district under this subchapter shall not be: 17
102- (A) Denied participation in an extracurricular activity at 18
103-the public school or nonresident district to which he or she transfers based 19
104-exclusively on his or her decision to transfer to the public school or 20
105-nonresident district; or 21
106- (B) Disciplined in any manner based exclusively on the 22
107-exercise of his or her right to transfer to another publi c school or a 23
108-nonresident district under this subchapter. 24
109- (2)(A) However, a student who transfers to another public school 25
110-or a nonresident school district under this subchapter shall complete a 26
111-Changing Schools/Athletic Participation form as defined by the Arkansas 27
112-Activities Association. 28
113- (B) A Changing Schools/Athletic Participation form shall 29
114-be completed and filed with the: 30
115- (i) Public school or nonresident school district to 31
116-which the student transfers under this section; and 32
117- (ii) Arkansas Activities Association. 33
118- (C)(i) Before a student is eligible to participate in an 34
119-extracurricular activity at the public school or nonresident school district 35
120-to which he or she transfers, the Changing Schools/Athletic Participation 36 As Engrossed: S3/29/23 S3/30/23 S3/30/23 SB400
91+ (b) However, an individual who coaches or 8
92+assists with coaching an extracurricular activity sponsored by a school that 9
93+employs the individual is not recruiting for purposes of this section if he 10
94+or she coaches or assists with coaching during an off -season program that is 11
95+separate from the extracurricular activity sponsored by the school that 12
96+employs the individual. 13
97+ (3) As used in subdivision (m)(1) of this section, 14
98+"extracurricular activity" means an interschool activity not included in a 15
99+regular curriculum, including without limitation sports and special interest 16
100+clubs or groups. 17
101+ 18
102+ SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 6 -18-1904, concerning general provisions 19
103+for student transfers under the Public School Choice Act of 2015, is amended 20
104+to add an additional subsection to read as follows: 21
105+ (f)(1) A student who transfers to another public school or a 22
106+nonresident district under this subchapter shall not be: 23
107+ (A) Denied participation in an extracurricular activity at 24
108+the public school or nonresident district to which he or she transfers based 25
109+exclusively on his or her decision to transfer to the public school or 26
110+nonresident district ; or 27
111+ (B) Disciplined in any manner based exclusively on the 28
112+exercise of his or her right to transfer to another public school or a 29
113+nonresident district under this subchapter. 30
114+ (2)(A) However, a student who transfers to another public school 31
115+or a nonresident school district under this subchapter shall complete a 32
116+Changing Schools/Athletic Participation form as defined by the Arkansas 33
117+Activities Association. 34
118+ (B) A Changing Schools/Athletic Participation form shall 35
119+be completed and filed with the: 36 As Engrossed: S3/29/23 S3/30/23 SB400
121120
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124123
125-form submitted by the student as required under subdivision (f)(2)(B) of this 1
126-section shall be signed by the: 2
127- (a) Superintendent of the student's resident 3
128-school district; 4
129- (b) Superintendent of the nonresident school 5
130-district to which the student transfers; and 6
131- (c) Parent, legal guardian, or person standing 7
132-in loco parentis to the student. 8
133- (ii) The superintendent of a student's resident 9
134-school district and the superintendent of the nonresident school district to 10
135-which a student transfers shall sign the Changing Schools/Athletic 11
136-Participation form unless there is demonstrable evidence: 12
137- (a) Of recruiting by the receiving school 13
138-district personnel; or 14
139- (b) The student is transferring to the public 15
140-school or nonresident school district solely for athletic purposes. 16
141- (D) A Changing Schools/Athletic Participation form shall 17
142-be used only for eligibility determination of a student who transfers to 18
143-another public school or nonresident school district under this subchapter 19
144-and is enrolled in the receiving school district by July 1 before the student 20
145-enters grades seven through twelve (7 -12). 21
146- (E)(i) Public school district personnel and registered 22
147-volunteers, as defined by the Arkansas Registered Volunteers Program Act, § 23
148-6-22-101 et seq., shall not recruit students to the public school at which 24
149-they are employed or volunteer for athletic purposes. 25
150- (ii) As used in this section, "recruiting" means the 26
151-use of undue influence or special inducement by an individual who is 27
152-connected directly or i ndirectly with a school that is a member of the 28
153-Arkansas Activities Association in an attempt to encourage, induce, pressure, 29
154-urge, or entice a prospective student of any age to transfer to the school or 30
155-retain a student at the school for the purpose of pa rticipating in 31
156-extracurricular activities. 32
157- (3) As used in subdivision (f)(1) of this 33
158-section, "extracurricular activity" means an interschool activity not 34
159-included in a regular curriculum, including without limitation sports and 35
160-special interest club s or groups. 36 As Engrossed: S3/29/23 S3/30/23 S3/30/23 SB400
124+ (i) Public school or nonresident school district to 1
125+which the student transfers under this section; and 2
126+ (ii) Arkansas Activities Association. 3
127+ (C)(i) Before a student is eligible to participate in an 4
128+extracurricular activity at the public school or nonresident school district 5
129+to which he or she transfers, the Changing Schools/Athletic Participation 6
130+form submitted by the student as required under subdivision (f)(2)(B) of this 7
131+section shall be signed by the: 8
132+ (a) Superintendent of the student's resident 9
133+school district; 10
134+ (b) Superintendent of the nonresident school 11
135+district to which the student transfers; and 12
136+ (c) Parent, legal guardian, or person standing 13
137+in loco parentis to the student. 14
138+ (ii) The superintendent of a student's resident 15
139+school district and the superintendent of the nonresident school district to 16
140+which a student transfers shall sign the Changing Schools/Athletic 17
141+Participation form unless there is demonstrable evidence: 18
142+ (a) Of recruiting by the receiving scho ol 19
143+district personnel; or 20
144+ (b) The student is transferring to the public 21
145+school or nonresident school district solely for athletic purposes. 22
146+ (D) A Changing Schools/Athletic Participation form shall 23
147+be used only for eligibility determination of a s tudent who transfers to 24
148+another public school or nonresident school district under this subchapter 25
149+and is enrolled in the receiving school district by July 1 before the student 26
150+enters grades seven through twelve (7 -12). 27
151+ (E)(i) Public school district pe rsonnel and registered 28
152+volunteers, as defined by the Arkansas Registered Volunteers Program Act, § 29
153+6-22-101 et seq., shall not recruit students to the public school at which 30
154+they are employed or volunteer for athletic purposes. 31
155+ (ii)(a) As used in this section, "recruiting" means 32
156+the use of undue influence or special inducement by an individual who is 33
157+connected directly or indirectly with a school that is a member of the 34
158+Arkansas Activities Association in an attempt to encourage, induce, pressure, 35
159+urge, or entice a prospective student of any age to transfer to the school or 36 As Engrossed: S3/29/23 S3/30/23 SB400
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166-/s/A. Clark 2
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168- 4
169-APPROVED: 4/12/23 5
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164+retain a student at the school for the purpose of participating in 1
165+extracurricular activities. 2
166+ (b) However, an individual who coaches or 3
167+assists with coaching an extracurricular activity sponsored by a school that 4
168+employs the individual is not recruiting for purposes of this section if he 5
169+or she coaches or assists with coaching during an off -season program that is 6
170+separate from the extracurricular activity sponsored by the school that 7
171+employs the individual . 8
172+ (3) As used in subdivision (f)(1) of this section, 9
173+"extracurricular activity" means an interschool activity not included in a 10
174+regular curriculum, including without limitation sports and special interest 11
175+clubs or groups. 12
177176 13
178- 14
177+/s/A. Clark 14
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