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 SENATE BILL 634 3
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By: Senators M. Johnson, B. Johnson, A. Clark 5
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For An Act To Be Entitled 8
AN ACT TO CREATE THE DIVISION OF INTERSCHOLASTIC 9
ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE DIVISION OF ELEMENTARY AND 10
SECONDARY EDUCATION; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 11
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Subtitle 14
TO CREATE THE DIVISION OF 15
INTERSCHOLASTIC ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE 16
DIVISION OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY 17
EDUCATION. 18
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 20
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SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 6, Chapter 18, Subchapter 1, is amended 22
to add an additional section to read as follows: 23
6-18-116. Division of Interscholastic Activities — Definitions — 24
Creation — Duties. 25
(a) To promote the value of student participation in interscholastic 26
activities and to provide fair and impartial oversight of interscholastic 27
activities at schools in the State of Arkansas, the General Assembly finds 28
that a Division of Interscholastic Activities should be established under the 29
direct operational control of the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary 30
Education. 31
(b) As used in this section: 32
(1) "Interscholastic activity" means a school activity not 33
included in a regular curriculum, including without limitation sports and 34
special interest clubs or groups, in which students in grades six through 35
twelve (6-12) participate and compete; and 36 SB634
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(2) "School" means: 1
(A) A public school; 2
(B) An open-enrollment public charter school; or 3
(C) A private school. 4
(c) There is created a Division of Interscholastic Activities within 5
the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education. 6
(d)(1) The Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education shall 7
select an individual to serve as the Assistant Commissioner of the Division 8
of Interscholastic Activities, who shall serve at the pleasure of the 9
Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education. 10
(2) The Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education may 11
reassign as necessary Division of Elementary and Secondary Education staff to 12
the Division of Interscholastic Activities sufficient to fulfill the Division 13
of Interscholastic Activities's monitoring and reporting obligations. 14
(e)(1) The person selected as Assistant Commissioner of the Division 15
of Interscholastic Activities shall: 16
(A) Be a person of good moral character and qualified 17
technically and by experience to direct the work of the Division of 18
Interscholastic Activities; 19
(B) Hold a master's degree or an equivalent degree from an 20
accredited institution; and 21
(C) Have at least ten (10) years of experience in an 22
administrative, supervisory, or management position. 23
(2) No person who is related within the fourth degree of 24
consanguinity or affinity to a member of the State Board of Education or to 25
the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education shall be eligible to 26
serve as the Assistant Commissioner of the Division of Interscholastic 27
Activities. 28
(f) With guidance and approval from the Commissioner of Elementary and 29
Secondary Education, the Assistant Commissioner of the Division of 30
Interscholastic Activities shall be responsible for hiring all employees of 31
the Division of Interscholastic Activities. 32
(g) The Division of Interscholastic Activities shall have the 33
following responsibilities: 34
(1) To monitor schools for compliance with the following as it 35
relates to interscholastic activities: 36 SB634
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(A) State rules and federal regulations; 1
(B) Legislative acts; and 2
(C) All rules as established by the state board; 3
(2) To promote the educational values inherent in 4
interscholastic activities that contribute to the accepted aims of education 5
while avoiding interference with the educational goals of a school; 6
(3) To ensure that interscholastic activities remain an integral 7
part of an education program; 8
(4) To promote an understanding that participation in 9
interscholastic activities is a privilege for students who meet certain 10
criteria established by the state board; 11
(5) To foster a cooperative spirit of good sportsmanship on the 12
part of school representatives, school patrons, and students; 13
(6) To support opportunities for students to experience the 14
benefits that are derived from teamwork, developing a sense of fair play, and 15
accomplishment; 16
(7) To promote an understanding and appreciation that rules, 17
consistently applied, create order and discipline; 18
(8) To provide standard and consistent interpretations of the 19
rules as adopted by the state board; 20
(9) To conduct championship events according to the procedures 21
adopted by the state board in a thorough and impartial manner; 22
(10) To prevent exploitation of youth by special interest 23
groups; 24
(11) To develop standards of officiating and adjudicating 25
interscholastic activities in order to ensure greater statewide consistency 26
and quality; and 27
(12) To consider the distances required for traveling when 28
scheduling competitions between schools. 29
(h)(1) Each public school and open -enrollment public charter school 30
shall be subject to the oversight of interscholastic activities by the 31
Division of Interscholastic Activities. 32
(2) A private school may choose to be subject to the oversight 33
of its interscholastic activities by the Division of Interscholastic 34
Activities. 35
(i) The Division of Interscholastic Activities shall not discriminate 36 SB634
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against an individual on the basis of gender, national origin, race, 1
ethnicity, religion, or disability. 2
(j) By June 1 of each year, the Division of Interscholastic Activities 3
shall provide an annual report on its regulation of interscholastic 4
activities for the previous school year to the House Committee on Education 5
and the Senate Committee on Education. 6
(k) The state board shall promulgate rules to administer this section. 7
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