Every parent, legal guardian, person having lawful control of the child, or person standing in loco parentis of any child age five (5) through seventeen (17) years on or before August 1 of that year who resides, as defined by policy, within the District shall enroll the child and ensure the attendance of the child at a District school with the following exceptions:

1. The child is enrolled in private or parochial school.

2. The child is being home-schooled and the conditions of policy on HOMESCHOOLING have been met.

3. The child will not be age six (6) on or before August 1 of that particular school year and the parent, legal guardian, person having lawful control of the child, or person standing in loco parentis of the child elects not to have him/her attend kindergarten. A kindergarten waiver form prescribed by regulation of the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education must be signed and on file with the District administrative office.

4. The child has received a high school diploma or its equivalent as determined by the State Board of Education.

5. The child is age sixteen (16) or above and is enrolled in a post-secondary vocational-technical institution, a community college, or a two-year or four-year institution of higher education.

6. The child is age sixteen (16) or seventeen (17) and has met the requirements to enroll in an adult education program as defined by A.C.A. § 6-18-201 (b).

    

Legal Reference
A.C.A. § 6-18-201
A.C.A. § 6-18-207

Date Adopted: August 27, 2017
Last Revised:  September 27, 2019

Definitions

In loco parentis” means relating to the responsibility to undertake the care and control of another person in the absence of:

1. Supervision by the person’s parent or legal guardian; and

2. Formal legal approval

“Reside” means to be physically present and to maintain a permanent place of abode for an average of no fewer than four (4) calendar days and nights per week for a primary purpose other than school attendance.

“Resident” means a student whose parents, legal guardians, persons having legal, lawful control of the student, or persons standing in loco parentis reside in the school district.

“Residential address” means the physical location where the student’s parents, legal guardians, persons having legal, lawful control of the student under order of a court, or persons standing in loco parentis reside. A student may use the residential address of a legal guardian, person having legal, lawful control of the student, or person standing in loco parentis only if the student resides at the same residential address and if the guardianship or other legal authority is not granted solely for educational needs or school attendance purposes.

The schools of the District shall be open and free through the completion of the secondary program to all persons between the ages of five (5) and twenty-one (21) years whose parents, legal guardians, or other persons having lawful control of the student, or person standing in loco parentis reside within the District1 and to all persons between those ages who have been legally transferred to the District for educational purposes.

Any person eighteen (18) years of age or older may establish a residence separate and apart from his or her parent, legal guardian, person having lawful control of the student, or a person standing in loco parentis for school attendance purposes.

In order for a person under the age of eighteen (18) years to establish a residence for the purpose of attending the District’s schools separate and apart from his or her parent, legal guardian, person having lawful control of the student or person standing in loco parentis, the student is required to reside in the District for a primary purpose other than that of school attendance; however, a student previously enrolled in the district whose parents move the student into another district or who is placed under the legal guardianship of a noncustodial parent living outside the district by a custodial parent on active military duty may continue to attend district schools. A foster child who was previously enrolled in a District school and who has had a change in placement to a residence outside the District, may continue to remain enrolled in his/her current school unless the presiding court rules otherwise.

Under instances prescribed in A.C.A. § 6-18-203, a child or ward of an employee of the district or of the education co-op to which the district belongs may enroll in the district even though the employee and the employee's child or ward reside outside the district.

Children whose parent or legal guardian relocates within the state due to a mobilization, deployment, or available military housing while on active duty in or serving in the reserve component of a branch of the United States Armed Forces or National Guard may continue attending school in the school district the children were attending prior to the relocation or attend school in the school district where the children have relocated. A child may complete all remaining school years at the enrolled school district regardless of mobilization, deployment, or military status of the parent or guardian.

Cross References
HOMELESS STUDENTS
STUDENTS WHO ARE FOSTER CHILDREN 

Legal References
A.C.A. § 6-4-302
A.C.A. § 6-18-107
A.C.A. § 6-18-202
A.C.A. § 6-18-203
A.C.A. § 9-28-113

Date Adopted: August 27, 2017
Last Revised: September 27, 2019

To enroll in a school in the District, the child must be a resident of the District as defined in District policy (4.1—RESIDENCE REQUIREMENTS), meet the criteria outlined in policy 4.40—HOMELESS STUDENTS or in policy 4.52—STUDENTS WHO ARE FOSTER CHILDREN, be accepted as a transfer student under the provisions of policy 4.4, or participate under a school choice option and submit the required paperwork as required by the choice option under Policy 4.5.

 Students may enter kindergarten if they attain the age of five (5) on or before August 1 of the year in which they are seeking initial enrollment. Any student who has been enrolled in a state-accredited or state-approved kindergarten program in another state for at least sixty (60) days, will become five (5) years old during the year in which he/she is enrolled in kindergarten, and meets the basic residency requirement for school attendance may be enrolled in kindergarten upon written request to the District. Any student who was enrolled in a state-accredited or state-approved kindergarten program in another state or in a kindergarten program equivalent in another country, becomes a resident of this state as a direct result of active military orders or a court-ordered change of custody, will become five (5) years of age during the year in which he or she is enrolled in kindergarten, and meets the basic residency requirement for school attendance may be enrolled in kindergarten upon a written request to the District.

 Any child who will be six (6) years of age on or before October 1 of the school year of enrollment and who has not completed a state-accredited kindergarten program shall be evaluated by the district and may be placed in the first grade if the results of the evaluation justify placement in the first grade and the child’s parent or legal guardian agrees with placement in the first grade; otherwise the child shall be placed in kindergarten.

 Any child may enter first grade in a District school if the child attains the age of six (6) years during the school year in which the child is seeking enrollment and the child has successfully completed a kindergarten program in a public school in Arkansas.

 Any child who has been enrolled in the first grade in a state-accredited or state-approved elementary school in another state for a period of at least sixty (60) days, who will become age six (6) years during the school year in which he/she is enrolled in grade one (1), and who meets the basic residency requirements for school attendance may be enrolled in the first grade.

Students who move into the District from an accredited school shall be assigned to the same grade as they were attending in their previous school (mid-year transfers) or as they would have been assigned in their previous school. Private school students shall be evaluated by the District to determine their appropriate grade placement. Home school students enrolling or re-enrolling as a public school student shall be placed in accordance with policy 4.6—HOME SCHOOLING.

 The district shall make no attempt to ascertain the immigration status, legal or illegal, of any student or his/her parent or legal guardian presenting for enrollment.1

Prior to the child’s admission to a District school: The parent, legal guardian, person having lawful control of the student, or person standing in loco parentis shall furnish the child’s social security number, or if they request, the district will assign the child a nine (9)-digit number designated by the Division of Elementary and Secondary education.

1. The parent, legal guardian, person having lawful control of the student, or person standing in loco parentis shall provide the district with one (1) of the following documents indicating the child’s age:

a.  A birth certificate;

b.  A statement by the local registrar or a county recorder certifying the child’s date of birth;

c.  An attested baptismal certificate;

d. A passport; 

a.An affidavit of the date and place of birth by the child’s parent, legal guardian, person having lawful control of the student, or person standing in loco parentis;

b.United States military identification; or

c Previous school records. 

1. The parent, legal guardian, person having lawful control of the student, or person standing in loco parentis shall indicate on school registration forms whether the child has been expelled from school in any other school district or is a party to an expulsion proceeding. Any person who has been expelled from any other school district shall receive a hearing before the Board at the time the student is seeking enrollment in the District. The Board reserves the right not allow the enrollment of such students until the time of the person's expulsion has expired following the hearing before the Board.3

2. In accordance with Policy on IMMUNIZATIONS, the child shall be age appropriately immunized or have an exemption issued by the Arkansas Department of Health.

    

Uniformed Services Member's Children

For the purposes of this policy:

“Activated reserve components” means members of the reserve component of the uniformed services who have received a notice of intent to deploy or mobilize under Title 10 of the United States Code, Title 32 of the United States Code, or state mobilization to active duty.

“Active duty” means full-time duty status in the active, uniformed services of the United States, including without limitation members of The National Guard and Reserve on active duty orders under 10 U.S.C. chapters 1209 and 1211 or 42 U.S.C. §204.

“Deployment” means a period extending from six (6) months before a member of the uniformed services' departure from their home station on military orders through six (6) months after return to his or her home station.

"Dual status military technician" means a federal civilian employee who is:

a.Employed under 5 U.S.C. § 3101 or 32 U.S.C. § 709(b);

b. Required as a condition of his or her employment to maintain membership in the Selected Reserve; and

cAssigned to a civilian position as a technician in the organizing, administering, instructing, or training of the Selected Reserve or in the maintenance and repair of supplies or equipment issued to the Selected Reserve of the United States Armed Forces.

 “Eligible child” means the children of:

• Active duty members of the uniformed services;

• Members of the active and activated reserve components of the uniformed services;

• Members or veterans of the uniformed services who are severely injured and medically discharged or retired for a period of one (1) year after medical discharge or retirement; and

• Members of the uniformed services who die on active duty or as a result of injuries sustained on active duty for a period of one (1) year after death.

• Dual status military technicians; and

• Traditional members of the National Guard and reserve components of the armed forces who are relocating to the state for employment or to serve as a member of an Arkansas-based reserve component unit.

"Traditional member of the National Guard or federal reserves" means an active member of the Selected Reserve subject to mobilization and deployment for which he or she attends monthly and annual training periods.

“Transition” means the:

• Formal and physical process of transitioning from public school to public school; or

• Period of time in which a student moves from a sending district to a receiving district.

“Uniformed services” means the United States Army, United States Navy, United States Air Force, United States Marine Corps, United States Space Force, United States Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps, the United States Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Services, and the state and federal reserve components of each of these bodies.

“Veteran” means an individual who served in the uniformed services and who was discharged or released from the uniformed services under conditions other than dishonorable.

The superintendent shall designate an individual as the District’s military education coordinator, who shall serve as the primary point of contact for an eligible child and for the eligible child’s parent, legal guardian, person having lawful control of the eligible child, or person standing in loco parentis. The individual the superintendent designates as the District’s military education coordinator shall have specialized knowledge regarding the educational needs of children of military families and the obstacles that children of military families face in obtaining an education.5

An eligible child as defined in this policy shall:

1. Be allowed to continue his/her enrollment at the grade level commensurate with his/her grade level he/she was in at the time of transition from his/her previous school, regardless of age;

2. Be eligible for enrollment in the next highest grade level, regardless of age if the student has satisfactorily completed the prerequisite grade level in his/her previous school;

3. Enter the District's school on the validated level from his/her previous accredited school when transferring into the District after the start of the school year;

4. Be enrolled in courses and programs the same as or similar to the ones the student was enrolled in his/her previous school to the extent that space is available. This does not prohibit the District from performing subsequent evaluations to ensure appropriate placement and continued enrollment of the student in the courses/and/or programs;

5. Be provided services comparable to those the student with disabilities received in his/her previous school based on his/her previous Individualized Education Program (IEP). This does not preclude the District school from performing subsequent evaluations to ensure appropriate placement of the student;

6. Make reasonable accommodations and modifications to address the needs of an incoming student with disabilities, subject to an existing 504 or Title II Plan, necessary to provide the student with equal access to education. This does not preclude the District school from performing subsequent evaluations to ensure appropriate placement of the student;

7. Be enrolled by an individual who has been given the special power of attorney for the student's guardianship. The individual shall have the power to take all other actions requiring parental participation and/or consent;

8. Be eligible to continue attending District schools if he/she has been placed under the legal guardianship of a noncustodial parent living outside the district by a custodial parent on active military duty.

 Following the receipt of advanced notice of the enrollment of an eligible student from a military family, the District shall treat the notice as a provisional enrollment and provide the student with materials regarding:

a.Academic courses;

b. Electives;

c.  Sports; and

d.Other relevant information regarding the public school. 

In the event that official copies of an eligible child’s education records are not available at the time the eligible child is transferring, then the District shall:

• Pre-register and place an eligible child based on the eligible child’s unofficial education records pending receipt of the eligible child’s official records; and

• Request the eligible child’s official education records from the sending district.

To facilitate a smooth transition between the student’s previous coursework and the curriculum best suited to ensure educational success in the student’s new school, the District may enroll an inbound transitioning eligible student in digital coursework, if available, at the request of the military family.

International Exchange Students

"Host family" means the individual or family with whom an international exchange student is placed by an international student exchange visitor placement organization under the International Student Exchange Visitor Placement Organization Registration Act, § 6-18-1701 et seq..

"International exchange student" means a student who is placed with a host family by an international student exchange visitor placement organization under the International Student Exchange Visitor Placement Organization Registration Act, § 6-18-1701 et seq.

Before an international exchange student may attend a District school , the District requires all international student exchange visitor placement organizations that are placing international exchange students within the District to:

• Be certified by the Council on Standards for International Educational Travel;

• Provide documented proof of the international exchange student's English proficiency; and

• Notify the District at least three (3) weeks before the beginning of the academic semester the international exchange student plans to enroll in the District.

The District shall admit for enrollment and attendance an international exchange student who has been placed with a host family who resides within the District boundaries. The international exchange student shall attend the school in the District based on the attendance zone where the host family resides.

Upon an international exchange student’s arrival, the international exchange student may be required to submit to quarantine to prevent the spread of infectious diseases as may be necessary, which shall not exceed seven (7) days unless otherwise recommended by the Arkansas Department of Health or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

International exchange students are expected to follow the District handbook and student code of conduct as the District has the authority to expel a student for violations of the school district's written student discipline policies or if the international exchange student presents a danger to the District’s students or employees.

Statewide assessment results achieved by an international exchange student enrolled in the District shall be included in the District’s results on the statewide assessments.

The District shall provide English-language services to international exchange students as necessary.

Cross References      
RESIDENCE REQUIREMENTS
STUDENT TRANSFERS
SCHOOL CHOICE
HOMESCHOOLING
COMMUNICABLE DISEASES AND PARASITES
HOMELESS STUDENTS

Legal References

A.C.A. § 6-4-302
A.C.A. § 6-4-309
A.C.A. § 6-15-504
A.C.A. § 6-18-107
A.C.A. § 6-18-201 (c)
A.C.A. § 6-18-207
A.C.A. § 6-18-208
A.C.A. § 6-18-234
A.C.A. § 6-18-510
A.C.A. § 6-18-702
A.C.A. § 6-28-101 et seq
A.C.A. § 9-28-113
Plyler v Doe 457 US 202,221 (1982)

Date Adopted: August 27, 2017
Last Revised: June 9, 2023