The district shall provide free appropriate public education and necessary related services to all children with disabilities residing within the district, as required under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Arkansas Statutes.

 It is the intent of the district to ensure that students who are disabled within the definition of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 are identified, evaluated and provided with appropriate educational services. Students may be disabled within the meaning of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act even though they do not require services pursuant to the IDEA.

 For students eligible for services under IDEA, the District shall follow procedures for identification, evaluation, placement, and delivery of services to children with disabilities provided in the state and federal statutes governing special education. Implementation of an Individualized Education Program (IEP) in accordance with the IDEA satisfies the district's obligation to provide a free and appropriate education under Section 504.

 The Board directs the superintendent to ensure procedures are in place for the implementation of special education services and that programs are developed to conform to the requirements of state and federal legislation. The superintendent is responsible for appointing a district coordinator for overseeing district fulfillment of its responsibilities regarding students with disabilities.1 Among the coordinator’s responsibilities shall be ensuring district enforcement of the due process rights of students with disabilities and their parents.

Before and After school CARE for Elementary

The before and after school CARE program is a non-profit, self-supported program for the students and parents of the Little Rock School District. CARE students participate in a variety of large group and independent activities. These activities include outdoor recreational activities, arts and crafts, music, games, and supervised homework time.

CARE is available at LRSD elementary schools with a minimum of 15 full time participants at a reasonable cost to parents. Each program operates from 7:00 a.m. until the start of the school day and from dismissal until 5:30 p.m. on regular school days. CARE is open at specified sites for Parent Conference Days, Teacher Workdays and Professional Development Days. Students attend these days by reservation only at an additional cost. When schools are closed or dismissed before the normal dismissal time due to an emergency or inclement weather, CARE is closed.

For more information, call the CARE office at 447-1880. 

Child Nutrition/Meal Charges

The Child Nutrition Program participates in the National School Lunch and Breakfast Program and After School Snack Program. Applications will only be accepted online at www.myschoolapps.com. Meal applications (one per household) will be required: beginning July 1, 2022. Parents may set up accounts to prepay at www.myschoolbucks.com.

The district will provide a limited credit for students to charge for breakfast and/or lunch meals. A student will be allowed to charge a maximum of three (3) meals or $15.00 to their account.  Students will not be allowed to charge a-la-carte or extra sale items.

 The district prefers that meals, a la carte, or other food and beverage items may be purchased by either providing payment for the items at the time of receipt or by having a prepaid account with the District that may be charged for the items. Parents, or students choosing to do so, may pay in advance for meals, a la carte, or other food and beverage items through any of the following methods:

• Submitting cash or check payment at the specific school main office;

Depositing funds through the District’s online service; www.myschoolbucks.com. 

 A student’s parents will be contacted by the Child Nutrition Department regarding a student’s prepaid account balance at the following times:

• When a student’s balance reaches three dollars ($3.00)

If a student is without money on a consistent basis, the administration will investigate the situation more closely and take further action as needed. If financial hardship exists, parents and families are encouraged to apply for meals at no cost for their child by going online to www.myschoolapps.com 

Alternative Meals

The District does not provide alternative meals for students.

PROVISION 2 – The following twenty-nine schools are participating in the Provision 2 Universal Lunch and School Breakfast Program:  Bale, Baseline, Brady, Carver, Chicot, , Geyer Springs, M.L. King, Mabelvale Elementary, McDermott, Otter Creek, Rockefeller, Stephens, Terry, Wakefield, Washington, Watson, Western Hills, Cloverdale, Dunbar, Mann, Mabelvale Middle, Hall, and J.A. Fair K-8.  Students receive meals at “no charge” due to the provisional status of the school, not the student’s meal status.  If your child attends a Provision 2 school, all meals will be provided at no cost.  However, they are not eligible for additional benefits without applying for individual household determination. Students who apply and are approved for free/reduced are entitled to fee waivers for summer school tuition, ACT/SAT testing fee waivers, concurrent credit fee waivers, as well as external discounted services such as internet.  We must have a completed meal application to determine your individual meal status for such benefits.

All schools in the District shall operate closed campuses. Students are required to stay on campus from their arrival until dismissal at the end of the regular school day unless given permission to leave the campus by a school official. Students must sign out in the office upon their departure.

Date Adopted: August 27, 2017
Last Revised:

The board strongly believes that the purpose of school is for learning. Social visitors, generally, disrupt the classroom and interfere with learning that should be taking place. Therefore, visiting with students at school is strongly discouraged, unless approved by the principal and scheduled in advance. This includes visits made by former students, friends, and/or relatives of teachers or students. Any visitation to the classroom shall be allowed only with the permission of the school principal and all visitors must first register at the office.

Cross References:

For adult visits, see policies:
CONTACT WITH STUDENTS WHILE AT SCHOOL and
VISITORS TO THE SCHOOLS

Date Adopted: August 27, 2017
Last Revised: Visitors at School

Contact By Parents

Parents wishing to speak to their children during the school day shall register first with the office.

Contact By Non-custodial Parents

If there is any question concerning the legal custody of the student, the custodial parent shall present documentation to the principal or the principal’s designee establishing the parent’s custody of the student. It shall be the responsibility of the custodial parent to make any court ordered “no contact” or other restrictions regarding the non-custodial parent known to the principal by presenting a copy of a file-marked court order. Without such a court order on file, the school will release the child to either of his/her parents. Non-custodial parents who file with the principal a date-stamped copy of current court orders granting unsupervised visitation may eat lunch, volunteer in their child’s classroom, or otherwise have contact with their child during school hours and the prior approval of the school’s principal. Such contact is subject to the limitations outlined in Policy 4.16, Policy 6.5, and any other policies that may apply.

Arkansas law provides that, in order to avoid continuing child custody controversies from involving school personnel and to avoid disruptions to the educational atmosphere in the District’s schools, the transfer of a child between his/her custodial parent and non-custodial parent, when both parents are present, shall not take place on the school’s property on normal school days during normal hours of school operation. The custodial or non-custodial parent may send to/drop off the student at school to be sent to/picked up by the other parent on predetermined days in accordance with any court order provided by the custodial parent or by a signed agreement between both the custodial and non-custodial parents that was witnessed by the student’s building principal.1 Unless a valid no-contact order has been filed with the student’s principal or the principal’s designee, district employees shall not become involved in disputes concerning whether or not that parent was supposed to pick up the student on any given day.

The District’s Student Code of conduct applies to students while traveling to and from school or to and from a school activity to the same extent as if the students were on school grounds. Appropriate disciplinary actions may be taken against commuting students who violate the District’s Student Code of Conduct.

The preceding paragraph also applies to student conduct while on school buses. Students shall be instructed in safe riding practices. The driver of a school bus shall not operate the school bus until every passenger is seated. In addition to other disciplinary measures provided for violations of the District’s Student Code of Conduct, the student’s bus transportation privileges may be suspended or terminated for violations of the Student Code of Conduct related to bus behavior.

Students are eligible to receive district bus transportation if they meet the following requirements. The transportation to and from school of students who have lost their bus transportation privileges is the responsibility of the student’s parent or guardian.

A student is expected to adhere to all laws and regulations regarding driver’s license and insurance for their vehicles. Vehicles driven to school shall be parked in the area designated for student parking. Parking on school property is a privilege, which may be denied to a student for any disciplinary violation, at the discretion of the student's building principal.

Students are not permitted to loiter in parking areas and are not to return to their vehicles during the school day for any reason unless given permission to do so by school personnel.

It is understood that there is no expectation of privacy in vehicles in parking areas. Drivers of vehicles parked on a school campus will be held accountable for illegal substances or any other item prohibited by District policy found in their vehicle. The act of a student parking a vehicle on campus is a grant of permission for school or law enforcement authorities to search that vehicle.a