§ 6-10-106 — Uniform dates for beginning and end of school year - Definition

(a) (1) (A) Each school year, each public school district board of directors and governing entity of an open-enrollment public charter school shall establish by policy the first day of the school year for student attendance in public elementary and secondary schools . (B) The first day of the school year for student attendance established under subdivision (a)(1)(A) of this section shall ensure compliance with the number of student-teacher interaction days or hours required by the Standards for Accreditation of Arkansas Public Schools and School Districts established by the State Board of Education. (2) Labor Day shall be celebrated as a school holiday in all the school districts of the state, and school shall not be held on that date. (3) As used in this section, "week" means a seven-day period that begins on a Sunday and ends on a Saturday. (b) Contracts of employment for employees in licensed personnel positions and employees in nonlicensed personnel positions of school districts may require school district employees to begin performance under their contract of employment before the first day of student attendance. (c) (1) If the school year in any school district extends beyond the date observed as Memorial Day, such date shall be a holiday in the school district. (2) Provided, upon approval of the division, this date may be used as a make-up day in any school district which has unavoidably lost more than five (5) scheduled days of student attendance during the course of the school year due to contagious disease outbreaks, inclement weather, or other acts of God. (d) (1) A public school district that provides a week-long holiday for spring break shall schedule the spring break holiday for five (5) consecutive school days beginning on the Monday of the thirty-eighth week of the school year. (2) The thirty-eighth week of the school year shall be calculated by counting as week one the first week in July that begins on a Sunday. (3) Nothing in this subsection shall prevent a public school district from providing fewer than five (5) consecutive school days for the spring break holiday to comply with the division's requirement for a minimum number of days for student attendance under the Standards for Accreditation of Arkansas Public Schools and School Districts. (e) The division shall not grant a waiver from the requirements of this section unless this section specifically authorizes the waiver. (f) Except as provided under subsection (g) of this section, a school district shall adopt an academic calendar that includes five (5) make-up days, in addition to the number of student-teacher interaction days required by the Standards for Accreditation of Arkansas Public Schools and School Districts established by the state board, for days unavoidably lost due to exceptional or emergency circumstances resulting from a contagious disease outbreak, inclement weather, or other acts of God. (g) (1) Beginning with the 2022-2023 school year, a public school district board of directors may elect to implement an alternate school calendar. (2) (A) An alternate school calendar implemented under subdivision (g)(1) of this section shall consist of: (i) At least one thousand sixty-eight (1,068) hours of instructional time; and (ii) (a) At least thirty (30) make-up hours, in addition to the number of hours required of instructional time, for days unavoidably lost due to exceptional or emergency circumstances resulting from inclement weather. (b) If additional make-up hours are needed, the public school district board of directors shall modify its alternate school calendar to include make-up hours for the additional hours needed. (B) However, there shall not be a minimum number of school days required to meet the required one thousand sixty-eight (1,068) hours of instructional time. (3) (A) A public school district board of directors that elects to implement an alternate school calendar under subdivision (g)(1) of this section shall: (i) Notify the division by July 1 of each year that the public school district intends to implement the alternate school calendar; (ii) Post the alternate school calendar on the public school district's website by August 1 of each year that the public school district intends to implement the alternate school calendar; and (iii) Input into eSchool, eFinance, or the Arkansas Public School Computer Network all data that: (a) Affects the average daily membership of the public school district; and (b) Ensures compliance with the required minimum number of school instructional hours under subdivision (g)(2)(A)(i) of this section. (B) A public school district that implements an alternate school calendar under subdivision (g)(1) of this section may submit an application to operate a virtual learning option. (4) The total number of instructional hours under an alternate school calendar shall be converted to school days for purposes of the: (A) Number of days required in a teacher employment basic contract under § 6-17-2402(1) ; (B) Number of days counted during the official reporting period for attendance under § 6-18-213(b)(1) ; and (C) Average daily membership calculated under § 6-20-2303(3) . (5) The division may promulgate rules as necessary to administer this section.

Legislative History

Amended by Act 2024, No. 146,§ 28, eff. 7/1/2024. Amended by Act 2024, No. 146,§ 27, eff. 7/1/2024. Amended by Act 2023, No. 729,§ 1, eff. 8/1/2023. Amended by Act 2023, No. 26,§ 1, eff. 1/30/2023. Amended by Act 2022, No. 217,§ 34, eff. 7/1/2022. Amended by Act 2021, No. 688,§ 3, eff. 7/28/2021. Amended by Act 2021, No. 688,§ 2, eff. 7/28/2021. Amended by Act 2021, No. 688,§ 1, eff. 7/28/2021. Amended by Act 2019, No. 910,§ 1075, eff. 7/1/2019. Amended by Act 2019, No. 910,§ 1074, eff. 7/1/2019. Amended by Act 2019, No. 910,§ 1073, eff. 7/1/2019. Amended by Act 2019, No. 910,§ 1072, eff. 7/1/2019. Amended by Act 2013, No. 1138,§ 2, eff. 8/16/2013. Amended by Act 2013, No. 1073,§ 1, eff. 8/16/2013. Amended by Act 2013, No. 75,§ 1, eff. 8/16/2013. Acts 1983 (Ex. Sess.), No. 6, §§ 1, 2; A.S.A. 1947, §§ 80-1506.1, 80-1506.2; Acts 1989, No. 461, § 1; 1993, No. 103, § 1; 2009, No. 424, § 1; 2009, No. 1469, § 1; 2011, No. 46, § 1; 2011, No. 65, § 1.