HSS

FORMS:

  EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITY ELIGIBILITY FOR HOME SCHOOLED STUDENTS (4.56.2)

Home-schooled student means a student legally enrolled in an Arkansas home school and who meets or has met the
criteria for being a home-schooled student, as established by A.C.A. § 6-15-503.

Interscholastic activity means an activity between schools subject to regulations of the Arkansas Activities Association
that is outside the regular curriculum of the school district, such as an athletic activity, fine arts program, or a special
interest group or club.

Each school in the District shall post on its website its schedule of interscholastic activities, including sign-up, tryout, and
participation deadlines, at least one semester in advance of those activities. A hard copy of the schedule shall be available
upon request.

Home-schooled students whose parents or guardians are legal residents of the school district will be permitted to pursue
participation in an interscholastic activity in the student's resident school zone2 as permitted by this policy.
Home-schooled students whose parent or legal guardian are not residents of the school district will be permitted
to pursue participation in an interscholastic activity in the District if the superintendent of the student’s resident
district and the superintendent of the District both agree in writing to allow the student to participate in
interscholastic activities at the District.

Although not guaranteed participation in an interscholastic activity, home-school students who meet the provisions of
this policy, AAA Rules, and applicable Arkansas statutes shall have an equal opportunity to try out and participate in an
interscholastic activities without discrimination. The District shall provide a reasonable alternative to any prerequisite for
eligibility to participate in an interscholastic activity that the home-schooled student is unable to meet because of his or
her enrollment in a home school.

To be eligible to try out and participate in interscholastic activities, the student or the parent of a student shall mail or
hand deliver the student's request to participate to the student's school's principal before the signup, tryout or
participation deadline established for traditional students. Additionally, the student shall demonstrate academic eligibility
by obtaining a minimum test score of the 30th percentile or better in the previous 12 months on the Stanford
Achievement Test Series, Tenth Edition; another nationally recognized norm-referenced test; or a minimum score on a
test approved by the State Board of Education.

A student who meets the requirements for eligibility to participate in an interscholastic activity is required to register for
no more than one course3 in the District's school where the student is intending to participate in an interscholastic
activity.

The student shall regularly attend the class in which the student is registered beginning no later than the eleventh (11th)
day of the semester in which the student's interscholastic activity participation is desired. The student must attend the
practices for the interscholastic activity to the same extent as is required of traditional students.
A student and the parent or legal guardian of the student shall sign and return an acknowledgement of receipt and
review of an information sheet regarding signs and symptoms of sudden cardiac arrest before the student may
participate in an athletic activity and before each school year the student participates in an athletic activity.

A home-schooled student who has met the try out criteria; and who has been selected to participate in the
interscholastic activity shall meet the following criteria that also apply to traditional students enrolled in the school:
• standards of behavior and codes of conduct;
• attend the practices for the interscholastic activity to the same extent as is required of traditional students;
• required drug testing;
• permission slips, waivers, physical exams; and
• participation or activity fees.

 A home-schooled student who is not a resident of the District may begin participating in interscholastic activities:

a. Immediately upon being approved for participation for all interscholastic activities other than athletic activities; and
b. One (1) calendar year after being approved to participate in interscholastic activities that are athletic activities unless the
approval is prior to July 1 of the school year the student would have been enrolled in seventh (7th) grade if the student
were enrolled in public school.

A home-schooled student who is not a resident of the District and is prohibited under this policy from participating
in an interscholastic activity that is an athletic activity for one (1) calendar year may immediately participate in
rehearsals, tryouts, practices, auditions, classes, or other endeavors associated with the interscholastic activity.
Students who participate in extracurricular or athletic activities under this policy will be transported to and from the
interscholastic activities on the same basis as other students are transported.

A student who withdraws from an Arkansas Activities Association member school to be home-schooled shall not
participate in an interscholastic activity in the resident school district for a minimum of three hundred sixty-five days after
the student withdraws from the member school.

Cross Reference: 4.59—ACADEMIC COURSE ATTENDANCE BY PRIVATE SCHOOL AND HOME SCHOOL STUDENTS
Legal References:A.C.A. § 6-15-509, A.C.A. § 6-18-232, A.C.A § 6-18-713, Arkansas Activities Association Handbook,
Commissioner’s Memo COM-18-009, Commissioner’s Memo LS-18-015, Arkansas Department of Education Rules Governing
Home Schools

4.59—ACADEMIC COURSE ATTENDANCE BY PRIVATE SCHOOL AND HOME SCHOOL STUDENTS

The District allows private school and home school students whose parents, legal guardians, or other responsible
adult with whom the student resides are residents of the District to attend academic courses offered in grades 7-
12.

A private school or home school student who desires to attend one or more of the available academic courses shall
submit a written request to attend the academic course(s) to the superintendent, or designee, no later than:
a. August 1 for Fall semester courses; or
b. December 1 for Spring semester courses.

The District may reject a private school or home school student’s request for attendance if the District’s
acceptance would:
 Require the addition of staff or classrooms;
 Exceed the capacity of a program, class, grade level, or school building;
 Cause the District to provide educational services the District does not currently provide; or
 Cause the District to be out of compliance with applicable laws and regulations regarding desegregation.

Requests to attend an academic course will be granted in the order the requests are received. Upon the receipt of
a private or home school student’s request to attend academic course(s), the District will date and time stamp the
request for attendance. If a private school or home school student is denied attendance based on a lack of capacity
and an opening in the requested course occurs prior to the start of the course, the District will use the date and
time stamp on the request for attendance to determine the private school or home school student who will be
notified of an opening in the requested course.

As part of the request to attend academic courses in the District, a private school or home school student shall:

Indicate the course(s) the private school or home school student is interested in attending;

o If the course(s) the private school or home school student is interested in attending is being offered by the District in both
a physical and a digital format, whether the private school or home school student intends to attend the physical course or
the digital course;
o Agree to follow the District’s discipline policies; and
o Submit immunization documentation required by Policy 4.57—IMMUNIZATIONS. In addition to the documentation
methods provided in Policy 4.57, a home school student may submit a letter to the superintendent, or designee, stating an
objection to immunizations and listing the immunizations the student has received, if any.

A private school or home school student who fails to attend an academic course by the eleventh (11) day of class
shall be dropped from the course.

The responsibility for transportation of any private school or home school student attending academic courses in
the District shall be borne by the student or the student’s parents.

The opportunity provided to home school students under this policy is in addition to the opportunity provided in
Policy 4.56.2—EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITY ELIGIBILITY FOR HOME SCHOOLED STUDENTS.
Cross References: 4.6—HOMESCHOOLING
4.56.2—EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITY ELIGIBILITY FOR HOME SCHOOLED STUDENTS
4.57-- IMMUNIZATIONS
Legal References:A.C.A. § 6-15-509, A.C.A. § 6-18-232, A.C.A. § 6-18-702, A.C.A. § 6-47-401 et seq., ADE Rules
Governing Distance and Digital Learning, ADE Rules Governing Kindergarten Through 12th Grade Immunization
Requirements in Arkansas Public Schools