Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
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State of Arkansas 1
95th General Assembly A Bill 2
Regular Session, 2025 HOUSE BILL 1370 3
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By: Representatives J. Mayberry, Cozart 5
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For An Act To Be Entitled 8
AN ACT CONCERNING MAKING UP MISSED SCHOOL DAYS; TO 9
REQUIRE A PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT TO INCLUDE 10
ADDITIONAL DAYS OR HOURS, AS APPLICABLE, IN ITS 11
SCHOOL CALENDAR FOR THE PURPOSE OF MAKING UP MISSED 12
SCHOOL DAYS; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 13
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Subtitle 16
CONCERNING MAKING UP MISSED SCHOOL DAYS; 17
AND TO REQUIRE A PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT 18
TO INCLUDE ADDITIONAL DAYS OR HOURS, AS 19
APPLICABLE, IN ITS SCHOOL CALENDAR FOR 20
THE PURPOSE OF MAKING UP MISSED SCHOOL 21
DAYS. 22
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 24
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SECTION 1. Arkansas Code § 6 -10-127 is amended to read as follows: 26
6-10-127. Making up missed school days. 27
(a) If a superintendent closes school for a regularly scheduled school 28
day due to an exceptional or emergency circumstances such as a contagious 29
disease outbreak, inclement weather, or other acts of God circumstance, then 30
the superintendent may make up missed school days by adding time to the 31
beginning or ending end of a regular school day for a minimum of sixty (60) 32
minutes. 33
(b)(1) Each public school district shall include an additional five 34
(5) days or the hourly equivalent of five (5) days, as applicable, in the 35
public school district's annual school calendar. 36 HB1370
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(2) The additional five (5) days or the hourly equivalent of 1
five (5) days, as applicable, included in an annual school calendar under 2
subdivision (b)(1) of this section: 3
(A) Shall be used before an additional student attendance 4
day or its hourly equivalent under subsection (c) is granted by the 5
Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education; and 6
(B) May be used for: 7
(i) A day off school during a school week; or 8
(ii) A day unavoidably lost due to an exceptional or 9
emergency circumstance. 10
(b)(1) The Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education (c)(1) 11
Upon using all five (5) school days or the hourly equivalent of five (5) 12
school days, as applicable, under subsection (b) of this section, the 13
commissioner may grant up to the equivalent of ten (10) five (5) student 14
attendance days or the hourly equivalent of five (5) student attendance days, 15
as applicable, for public school districts that have an alternative 16
instruction plan approved by the commissioner for the use of alternative 17
methods of instruction, including without limitation virtual learning, on 18
days when the a public school district is closed due to an exceptional or 19
emergency circumstances such as: circumstance 20
(A) A contagious disease outbreak, inclement weather, or 21
other acts of God; or 22
(B) A utility outage . 23
(2) The public school district's alternative instruction plan 24
shall demonstrate how teaching and learning in the public school district 25
will not be negatively impacted by the use of alternative methods of 26
instruction under subdivision (b)(1) (c)(1) of this section. 27
(d) If a public school district is closed due to an exceptional or 28
emergency circumstance for more than ten (10) student attendance days or the 29
hourly equivalent of ten (10) student attendance days, as applicable, in a 30
school year, then the public school district shall: 31
(1) Make up each student attendance day missed because of the 32
exceptional or emergency circumstance; or 33
(2) Submit a written application to the State Board of Education 34
requesting additional student attendance days or the hourly equivalent of the 35
requested additional student attendance days, as applicable, under 36 HB1370
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subdivision (c)(1) of this section if the public school district has an 1
alternative instruction plan approved by the commissioner for the use of 2
alternative methods of instruction, including without limitation virtual 3
learning. 4
(e) As used in this section, "exceptional or emergency circumstance" 5
means: 6
(1) A contagious disease outbreak; 7
(2) Inclement weather; 8
(3) Other acts of God; 9
(4) A utility outage; or 10
(5) Any other unforeseen circumstance caused or created by 11
humans, including without limitation an active shooter event or a threat of 12
an active shooter event, that acts as a principal cause of a public school 13
district's inability to conduct a portion of the minimum number of hours 14
required for a school day under § 6 -16-102. 15
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SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 6 -17-2403(c), concerning requirements to be 17
eligible to receive state funds to implement classroom teacher salary raises, 18
is amended to read as follows: 19
(c)(1) To Except as provided under subdivision (c)(2) of this section, 20
to be eligible for funds to implement the salary increases under subsections 21
(a) and (b) of this section, each public school district and open -enrollment 22
public charter school shall be open for on -site, in-person instruction for at 23
least: 24
(1)(A) One hundred seventy-eight (178) days; or 25
(2)(B) One thousand sixty-eight (1,068) hours. 26
(2) However, a student attendance day or its hourly equivalent, 27
as applicable, authorized under § 6 -10-127 for the use of alternative methods 28
of instruction when a public school district is closed due to an exceptional 29
or emergency circumstance shall count towards the required number of days or 30
hours, whichever the public school district uses, as required under 31
subdivision (c)(1) of this section. 32
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