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Arkansas Senate Bill SB215

Arkansas 2025 Regular Session

Arkansas Senate Bill SB215 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.
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11 Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
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33 State of Arkansas 1
44 95th General Assembly A Bill 2
55 Regular Session, 2025 SENATE BILL 215 3
66 4
77 By: Senator J. Bryant 5
88 By: Representative B. McKenzie 6
99 7
1010 For An Act To Be Entitled 8
1111 AN ACT TO AMEND THE PERMISSIBLE USES FOR REAL ESTATE 9
1212 DONATED BY A PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT; TO AMEND THE 10
1313 ARKANSAS PUBLIC SCHOOL ACADEMIC FACILITIES PROGRAM 11
1414 ACT; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 12
1515 13
1616 14
1717 Subtitle 15
1818 TO AMEND THE PERMISSIBLE USES FOR REAL 16
1919 ESTATE DONATED BY A PUBLIC SCHOOL 17
2020 DISTRICT; AND TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS 18
2121 PUBLIC SCHOOL ACADEMIC FACILITIES 19
2222 PROGRAM ACT. 20
2323 21
2424 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 22
2525 23
2626 SECTION 1. Arkansas Code § 6 -21-108(b), concerning the donation of 24
2727 real property by a public school district, is amended to read as follows: 25
2828 (b)(1) If the board of directors for a school district determines that 26
2929 real property owned or controlled by the school district is not required for 27
3030 the present or future needs of the school district and that the donation of 28
3131 the real property would serve a beneficial educational service for the 29
3232 citizens of the school district, then the school district may donate real 30
3333 property to an open-enrollment public charter school, a publicly supported 31
3434 institution of higher education, a technical institute, a community college, 32
3535 a not-for-profit organization, a county, a city, an incorporated town, or any 33
3636 entity thereof for the following limited purposes: 34
3737 (A) Having the real property preserved, improved, 35
3838 upgraded, rehabilitated, or enlarged by the donee; 36 SB215
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4141 (B) Providing an open-enrollment public charter school, a 1
4242 publicly supported institution of higher education, a technical institute, or 2
4343 a community college with the donated property in which to hold classes; or 3
4444 (C)(i) Providing community programs and beneficial 4
4545 educational services, social enrichment programs, or after -school programs. 5
4646 (ii) Real property donated to an open -enrollment 6
4747 public charter school, a publicly supported institution of higher education, 7
4848 a technical institute, or a community college under this subdivision 8
4949 (b)(1)(C) shall be used exclusively and entirely only for community programs 9
5050 and beneficial educational services, social enrichment programs, or after -10
5151 school programs. 11
5252 (iii) The provision of housing or another similar 12
5353 program or benefit shall not qualify as a community program or beneficial 13
5454 educational service, social enrichment program, or after -school program under 14
5555 this subdivision (b)(1)(C). 15
5656 (2) A school district may donate the fee simple title and 16
5757 absolute interest in real property, without any reservations or restrictions 17
5858 to the real property, to an open-enrollment public charter school, a publicly 18
5959 supported institution of higher education, a technical institute, a community 19
6060 college, a not-for-profit organization, a county, a city, an incorporated 20
6161 town, or any entity thereof. 21
6262 (3) If two (2) years after the effective date of consolidation 22
6363 the real property of the consolidated school district is not used by the 23
6464 school district for educational purposes and has not been sold, preserved, 24
6565 leased, or donated, the school district board of directors shall make the 25
6666 real property available to an open-enrollment public charter school, a 26
6767 publicly supported institution of higher education, a technical institute, a 27
6868 community college, a not -for-profit organization, a county, a city, an 28
6969 incorporated town, or any entity thereof, by donation or low -cost long-term 29
7070 lease, for the following limited purposes: 30
7171 (A) Having the real property preserved, improved, 31
7272 upgraded, rehabilitated, or enlarged by the donee; 32
7373 (B) Providing an open-enrollment public charter school, a 33
7474 publicly supported institution of higher education, a technical institute, or 34
7575 a community college with the donated property in which to hold classes; or 35
7676 (C)(i) Providing community programs and beneficial 36 SB215
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7979 educational services, social enrichment programs, or after -school programs. 1
8080 (ii) Real property donated to an open -enrollment 2
8181 public charter school, a publicly supported institution of higher education, 3
8282 a technical institute, or a community college under this subdivision 4
8383 (b)(3)(C) shall be used exclusively and entirely only for community programs 5
8484 and beneficial educational services, social enrichment programs, or after -6
8585 school programs. 7
8686 (iii) The provision of housing or another similar 8
8787 program or benefit shall not qualify as a community program or beneficial 9
8888 educational service, social enrichment program, or after -school program under 10
8989 this subdivision (b)(3)(C). 11
9090 12
9191 SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 6 -21-803(13), concerning the definition of 13
9292 "public school facility" under the Arkansas Public School Academic Facilities 14
9393 Program Act, is amended to read as follows: 15
9494 (13) “Public school facility” means any public school building 16
9595 or space, including related areas such as improved or unimproved real 17
9696 property or the physical plant and grounds, that is used for any purpose, 18
9797 including, without limitation: 19
9898 (A) An extracurricular activity; 20
9999 (B) An organized physical activity course as defined in § 21
100100 6-16-137; 22
101101 (C) Prekindergarten education; 23
102102 (D) District administration; or 24
103103 (E) Delivery of instruction to public school students that 25
104104 is an integral part of an adequate education as described in § 6 -20-2302; 26
105105 27
106106 SECTION 3. Arkansas Code § 6 -21-803(17), concerning the definition of 28
107107 "unused or underutilized public school facility" under the Arkansas Public 29
108108 School Academic Facilities Program Act, is amended to read as follows: 30
109109 (17) “Unused or underutilized public school facility” means a 31
110110 public school facility , academic facility, or other improved or unimproved 32
111111 real property that: 33
112112 (A) As a whole or in a significant portion, is not being 34
113113 used for a public educational, academic, extracurricular, or administrative 35
114114 purpose and the nonuse or underutilization threatens the integrity or purpose 36 SB215
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117117 of the public school facility or other real property as a public education 1
118118 facility; and 2
119119 (B) As of August 1, 2017, is Is not subject to: 3
120120 (i) A lease to a third party for fair market value; 4
121121 or 5
122122 (ii) An executed offer to purchase by a third party 6
123123 for fair market value. 7
124124 8
125125 SECTION 4. Arkansas Code § 6 -21-806(a)(7)(A), concerning the required 9
126126 report from a school district to the Division of Public School Academic 10
127127 Facilities and Transportation regarding unused or underutilized public school 11
128128 facilities in each public school district under the Academic Facilities 12
129129 Master Plan Program, is amended to read as follows: 13
130130 (7)(A) Submit a report to the division by February 1 January 31 14
131131 of each year that identifies: 15
132132 (i) All unused or underutilized public school 16
133133 facilities in the school district; and 17
134134 (ii) The unused or underutilized public school 18
135135 facilities, if any, that are designated in the district's facilities master 19
136136 plan to be reused, renovated, or demolished as part of a specific committed 20
137137 project or planned new construction project. 21
138138 22
139139 SECTION 5. Arkansas Code § 6 -21-815(c)(1), concerning the lease or 23
140140 purchase of a school district's unused or underutilized public school 24
141141 facilities, is amended to read as follows: 25
142142 (c)(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a school district 26
143143 shall make unused or underutilized public school facilities available for 27
144144 lease or purchase for no more than fair market value to any open-enrollment 28
145145 public charter school located within the geographical boundaries of the 29
146146 school district before the school district may donate unused or underutilized 30
147147 public school facilities as authorized under § 6 -21-108. 31
148148 32
149149 SECTION 6. Arkansas Code § 6 -21-816(a)(1), concerning requirements to 33
150150 sell or lease unused or underutilized public school facilities, is amended to 34
151151 read as follows: 35
152152 (a)(1)(A) Except as otherwise provided in this section, if a school 36 SB215
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155155 district determines that any public school facility , academic facility, or 1
156156 other real property is no longer needed for school purposes or is unused or 2
157157 underutilized, the school district may sell , donate, or lease the public 3
158158 school facility, academic facility, or other real property in accordance with 4
159159 §§ 6-13-103 and 6-13-620 and this subchapter. 5
160160 (B) A school district shall notify the division regarding 6
161161 the unused or underutilized public school facility under subdivision 7
162162 (a)(1)(A) of this section before it may sell, donate, or lease the public 8
163163 school facility, academic facility, or other real property under subdivision 9
164164 (a)(1)(A) of this section. 10
165165 11
166166 SECTION 7. Arkansas Code § 6 -21-816(b)(1)(A), concerning an open -12
167167 enrollment public charter school's right of first refusal to purchase or 13
168168 lease an unused or underutilized public school facility, is amended to read 14
169169 as follows: 15
170170 (b)(1)(A) If a school district decides to sell, lease, or otherwise 16
171171 transfer ownership of an academic facility, a public school facility, an 17
172172 unused or underutilized public school facility, or other real property 18
173173 belonging to the school district, an open-enrollment public charter school 19
174174 located within the school district's boundaries shall have a right of first 20
175175 refusal to purchase or lease the academic facility, public school facility, 21
176176 unused or underutilized public school facility, or other real property 22
177177 belonging to the school district for fair market value. 23
178178 24
179179 SECTION 8. Arkansas Code § 6 -21-816(b)(3), concerning a school 25
180180 district's authority to sell, lease, or otherwise transfer a public school 26
181181 facility, is amended to read as follows: 27
182182 (3) Subject to the priority list under subdivision (b)(1)(C) of 28
183183 this section, nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to delay or limit 29
184184 the authority of a school district to sell, lease, or otherwise transfer a 30
185185 public school facility , an academic facility, an unused or underutilized 31
186186 public school facility, or other real property to a an open-enrollment public 32
187187 charter school on terms agreed to by the school district and open-enrollment 33
188188 public charter school. 34
189189 35
190190 SECTION 9. Arkansas Code § 6 -21-816(h), concerning a school district 36 SB215
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193193 or public charter school that fails to comply with requirement related to the 1
194194 sale or lease of public school facilities, is amended to read as follows: 2
195195 (h)(1) The rules promulgated under this section and the Code of Ethics 3
196196 for Arkansas Educators shall include a provision that requires a school 4
197197 district to list immediately school district property as unused or 5
198198 underutilized upon the school district's determination that a public school 6
199199 facility or other real property belonging to the school district is no longer 7
200200 necessary for school district purposes or is unused or underutilized. 8
201201 (2) The division may classify: 9
202202 (A) Classify a school district that fails to comply with 10
203203 this section as being in academic facilities distress under § 6 -21-811; and 11
204204 (B) Recommend to the State Board of Education whether a 12
205205 school district that fails to comply with this section should be placed on 13
206206 Accredited — Cited Status. 14
207207 (3) A school district superintendent may be subject to sanctions 15
208208 under the Code of Ethics for Arkansas Educators if the school district 16
209209 superintendent fails to comply with this section. 17
210210 (2)(4) The authorizer may take action under § 6 -23-105 on the 18
211211 charter of a public charter school that fails to comply with this section. 19
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