Arkansas Education Code For Homeschooling
This is not intended to be legal advice and is distributed
for information purposes only. Check for updates at your public
library or on the Arkansas
Department of Education homechool section of their website.
Compulsory attendance - Between 5 and 17
years of age on or before September 15 of that school year.
Teacher certification required? - No.
Standardized achievement test required May 1.
Required number of hours per day per year - None
On April 2, 2007, Governor Mike Beebe signed into law House
Bill 2394, changing the definition of a "home school"
in Arkansas. Prior law defined this term as "a school primarily
conducted by parents or legal guardians for their own children."
The new definition for a home school is "a school provided
by a parent or legal guardian for his or her own child."
~ Kay Brooks
Arkansas
Code [pdf]
Volume 4A, 1999 Supplement, Title 6: Education Home School
Law. Updated 2003.
6-15-501. Definition.
As used in this subchapter unless the context otherwise requires,
"home school" means a school provided by a parent or
legal guardian for his or her own child.
6-15-502. Rules, regulations, and procedures
for monitoring and enforcing
provisions.
(a) The provisions of § 6-18-201(a) shall be self-executing,
and the State Board of Education shall have no authority to promulgate
rules, regulations, or guidelines for the enforcement or administration
thereof.
(b) The State Board of Education is empowered to make such
reasonable rules and regulations required for the proper administration
of this subchapter which are not inconsistent with the intent
of this subchapter.
6-15-503. Prerequisites to
home schooling.
(a)
(1) Parents or guardians desiring to provide a home school
for their children must give written notice to the superintendent
of their local school district of their intent to provide a home
school for their children and sign a waiver acknowledging that
the State of Arkansas is not liable for the education of their
children during the time that the parents choose to home school:
(A) At the beginning of each school year but no later than
August 15; or
(B) By December 15 for parents who decide to start home schooling
at the beginning of the spring semester; or
(C) Subject to the provisions of subsection (d) of this section,
fourteen (14) calendar days prior to withdrawing the children
from the local school district and at the beginning of each school
year thereafter. The superintendent or the local school board
may waive fourteen-day waiting period.
(2) Within thirty (30) calendar days of establishing residency
within the district, parents or guardians moving into the school
district during the school year must give written notice to the
superintendent of their local school district of their intent
to provide a home school for their children and sign a waiver
acknowledging that the State of Arkansas is not liable for the
education of their children during the time that the parents
choose to home school.
(3) The notice must include:
(A) The name, date of birth, grade level, and the name and
address of the school last attended, if any, of each student
involved; and
(B) The location of the home school;
(C) The basic core curriculum to be offered;
(D) The proposed schedule of instruction; and
(E) The qualifications of the parent-teacher.
(4) Parents or guardians shall deliver written notice in person
to the superintendent of their local school district the first
time such notice is given.
 Notice
of Intent (Part A)
Example
Notice of Intent
Home
School Waiver Form (Part B)
(b) This information may be used only for statistical purposes
and test administration.
(c) Each local school district shall report the statistical
data required by this section to the Department of Education
each year.
(d)
(1) No public school student shall be eligible for enrollment
in a home school if the student is currently under disciplinary
action for violation of any written school policy, including,
but not limited to, excessive unexcused absences.
(2) Public school students who are under disciplinary action
by the local school district shall be eligible for enrollment
in a home school if:
(A) The superintendent or local school board chooses to allow
the child to enroll in a home school;
(B) The disciplinary action against the student has been completed
or at the end of a school semester, whichever occurs first; or
(C) The student has been expelled.
6-15-504. Home-schooled students
- Achievement tests - Enrollment or reenrollment in local schools.
(a) Each student enrolled in a home school program who is
considered to be at a grade level, or no more than two (2) years
beyond the normal age for the appropriate grade, for which the
state mandates norm-referenced tests for public school students
shall be tested using a nationally recognized norm-referenced
achievement test selected by the State Board of Education.
(b)
(1)
(A) The administration of the tests required of home-schooled
students shall be by the directors of the education service cooperatives
established under § 6-13-1001 et seq. or as otherwise designated
by the Department of Education.
(B) For the purposes of this section, the superintendents
of the Little Rock, North Little Rock, and Pulaski County school
districts shall act in lieu of an education service cooperative
director.
(2) The directors of the education service cooperatives shall
establish a common set of procedures, approved by the Director
of the Department of Education, for the proper administration
of the tests required by this section.
(3) The administration shall include purchasing the test materials,
giving the tests, scoring and interpreting the tests, and reporting
test results.
(c) The cost of testing required by this section shall be
the responsibility of the department when the tests are administered
by the directors of the education service cooperatives or other
department designees.
(d) Alternate testing procedures may be approved by the director
of an education service cooperative after consultation with the
parents of a home-schooled student; provided, however, that any
costs associated with an alternate testing procedure shall be
the responsibility of the parents.
(e)
(1)
(A) Any student that refuses to participate in the testing
program or the alternate testing program required by this section
has not met the statutory prerequisites for home schooling and
shall be subject to the applicable Arkansas laws regarding truancy
as any other student.
(B) After a student corrects any refusal to participate in
the testing program or the alternate testing program as determined
by the Department of Education required by this subsection (e),
the student shall be restored to his or her home school status
after his or her parent or guardian has complied with all requirements
of § 6-15-503.
(2) This subsection (e) shall not be applicable to any parent
who can present written acknowledgement that the child has been
enrolled in a public, private, or parochial school within thirty
(30) days of the administration of the state-mandated achievement
test.
(f)
(1) Each local school district shall have authority to assess
any home-schooled student who enrolls or reenrolls in the district
in order to determine proper educational placement.
(2) The local school district shall utilize, among other means
of assessment, the norm-referenced test approved by the board
to assess the student and shall determine placement in the appropriate
grade level as indicated by the test results.
(g) Any home-schooled student who enrolls or reenrolls in
a local school district must attend classes for at least nine
(9) months immediately prior to graduation before the student
can become eligible to receive a high school diploma from the
district.
6-15-507. Ineligibility of home
schools for local, state, or federal funds.
(a) Home schools authorized by this subchapter are not entitled
to local, state, or federal funds allocated to a public school
district. For purposes of this section, eligible children with
disabilities, identified under the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq., in home school
settings shall be given the same consideration afforded to students
in private school settings for special education services as
provided for in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act,
20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq.
(b) School districts providing services to home school students
shall be eligible for local, state, or federal funds allocated
or approved for such services.
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