Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
Act 644 of the Regular Session
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State of Arkansas As Engrossed: S3/6/25 1
95th General Assembly A Bill 2
Regular Session, 2025 SENATE BILL 303 3
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By: Senator Dees 5
By: Representative Torres 6
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For An Act To Be Entitled 8
AN ACT TO ALLOW A RESIDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT TO PERMIT 9
A PRIVATE SCHOOL STUDENT TO PARTICIPATE IN AN 10
INTERSCHOLASTIC ACTIVITY AT THE RESIDENT SCHOOL 11
DISTRICT UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS; AND FOR OTHER 12
PURPOSES. 13
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Subtitle 16
TO ALLOW A RESIDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT TO 17
PERMIT A PRIVATE SCHOOL STUDENT TO 18
PARTICIPATE IN AN INTERSCHOLASTIC 19
ACTIVITY AT THE RESIDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT 20
UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS. 21
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 23
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SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 6, Chapter 18, Subchapter 2, is amended 25
to add an additional section to read as follows: 26
6-18-237. Participation of private school students in interscholastic 27
activities at public schools — Definitions. 28
(a) As used in this section: 29
(1) “Athletic activity” means a varsity sport or another 30
competitive sports-related contest, game, event, or exhibition that involves 31
an individual student or teams of students either among schools within a 32
resident school district or between schools outside of the resident school 33
district; 34
(2) “Interscholastic activity” means an activity between schools 35
subject to rules of the Arkansas Activities Association that is: 36 As Engrossed: S3/6/25 SB303
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(A) Outside the regular curriculum of a public school 1
district, including without limitation an athletic activity, a fine arts 2
program, or a special interest club or group; and 3
(B) Taught by an individual with a minimum of a high 4
school diploma; 5
(3) "Parent" means a parent, legal guardian, or person standing 6
in loco parentis to a child; 7
(4) "Private school" means a nonpublic elementary or secondary 8
school that is: 9
(A) A registered nonprofit; and 10
(B) Accredited or licensed by an accrediting association 11
recognized by the State Board of Education; 12
(5) "Resident school" means: 13
(A) A public school to which a student would be assigned 14
by the student's resident school district; or 15
(B) An open-enrollment public charter school with a campus 16
located within the student's resident school district; and 17
(6) “Resident school district” means a public school district in 18
which a private school student's parent resides as determined under § 6 -18-19
202. 20
(b) A resident school district or an open-enrollment public charter 21
school may permit a private school student to pursue participation in an 22
interscholastic activity at the resident school if the private school in 23
which the student is enrolled does not have the interscholastic activity in 24
which the private school student seeks to participate approved by the 25
Arkansas Activities Association. 26
(c) A private school student who participates in an interscholastic 27
activity that does not occur during a designated class period at his or her 28
resident school shall be enrolled in a nonacademic class period in his or her 29
resident school that coincides with the interscholastic activity that does 30
not occur during a designated class period in which the private school 31
student participates in order for the resident school district to receive an 32
amount equal to one-sixth (1/6) of the state foundation funding amount 33
provided under § 6-20-2305 for the duration of the private school student's 34
enrollment in the resident school district. 35
36 As Engrossed: S3/6/25 SB303
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/s/Dees 1
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APPROVED: 4/16/25 4
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