SCHOOL CHOICE NOTICE for the UPCOMING 25/26SY
This is a public announcement. Public School Choice in Arkansas allows students to attend a public school in a district other than the one in which they reside. Applications for students in the following counties: Clark, Garland, Grant, Hot Spring, Pike and Saline; must be postmarked, emailed or hand delivered between January 1 st , 2025 and May 1 st , 2025 to qualify for provisions under the Arkansas Public School Choice ACT 2015. Pursuant to standards adopted by a non-resident school board, a non-resident district may reserve the right to accept and reject applicants based on capacity of programs, class, grade level or school building. Likewise, a non-resident district’s standards may provide for the rejection of an applicant based upon the submission of false or misleading information to the above-listed request for information when that information directly impacts the legal qualifications of an applicant to transfer pursuant to the School Choice Act. However, a non-resident district’s standards shall not include an applicant’s previous academic achievement, athletic or other extra-curricular ability, handicapping conditions, English proficiency level, or previous disciplinary proceedings, except that an expulsion from another district may be included pursuant to Ark. Code 6-18-510. Priority will be given to applicants with siblings attending the district. The non-resident district shall accept credits toward graduation that were awarded by another district and award a diploma to a non-resident applicant if the applicant meets the non-resident district’s graduation requirements. The Superintendent shall notify the parent and the student’s resident district, in writing, no later than the fifteenth (15 th ) calendar day following the receipt of an application, of the decision to accept or reject the application. Transfers shall be granted on a non-discriminatory basis. Students who have been accepted and enrolled in previous years do not have to reapply as approved transfers remain valid for a s long as the student attends that public school. Superintendents of BOTH school districts must be notified by the parent of their school choice request.