Shown verbatim: the complete text as captured from the official PDF posted by the Arkansas General Assembly, fetched 2026-07-23. Page and line markers are part of the official record; nothing is edited or removed. The official bill page.
Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
1 State of ArkansasAs Engrossed: H1/15/25 H2/3/25 H2/18/25 H2/26/25 H3/31/25
2 95th General Assembly A Bill
3 Regular Session, 2025 HOUSE BILL 1062
4
5 By: Representative R. Scott Richardson
6 By: Senator Dees
7
8 For An Act To Be Entitled
9 AN ACT TO CREATE THE TEACHER AND STUDENT PROTECTION
10 ACT OF 2025; TO PROHIBIT A STUDENT WHO IS REMOVED
11 FROM A CLASSROOM DUE TO VIOLENT OR ABUSIVE BEHAVIOR
12 AGAINST A TEACHER OR ANOTHER STUDENT FROM BEING
13 PLACED IN A CLASS WITH THE TEACHER OR STUDENT AGAINST
14 WHOM THE VIOLENT OR ABUSIVE BEHAVIOR WAS DIRECTED;
15 AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
16
17
18 Subtitle
19 TO CREATE THE TEACHER AND STUDENT
20 PROTECTION ACT OF 2025.
21
22 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS:
23
24 SECTION 1. DO NOT CODIFY. Legislative intent.
25 (a) The General Assembly finds that:
26 (1) Eighty percent (80%) of those surveyed in an American
27 Psychological Association Task Force on Violence Against Educators and School
28 Personnel survey reported being victims of threats or violent acts at least
29 one (1) time at their schools, with fifty-six percent (56%) of teachers
30 surveyed reporting being victimized by students; and
31 (2) Nearly one million three hundred thousand (1,300,000) acts
32 of student-on-teacher violence were reported in a National Education
33 Association study.
34 (b) It is the intent of the General Assembly to:
35 (1) Provide a safe environment for teachers and students to work
36 and learn in the State of Arkansas;
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1 (2) Ensure that teachers and students do not suffer from
2 repeated violent or abusive behavior from students; and
3 (3) Ensure proper measures are in place to prevent repeated acts
4 of violence in schools.
5
6 SECTION 2. Arkansas Code � 6-18-511 is amended to read as follows:
7 6-18-511. Removal by teacher.
8 (a) Consistent with state and federal law, a teacher may remove a
9 student from class and send him or her to the principal's or principal's
10 designee's office in order to maintain effective discipline in the classroom.
11 (b) A teacher may remove from class a student:
12 (1) Who has been documented by the teacher as repeatedly
13 interfering with the teacher's ability to teach the students in the class or
14 with the ability of the student's classmates to learn; or
15 (2) Whose behavior the teacher determines is so unruly,
16 disruptive, violent, or abusive that it seriously interferes with the
17 teacher's ability to teach the students in the class or with the ability of
18 the student's classmates to learn.
19 (c) If Except as provided under subsection (e) of this section, if a
20 teacher removes a student from class in accordance with subsection (b) of
21 this section, the principal or his or her designee may:
22 (1) Place the student into another appropriate classroom
23 learning environment or into in-school suspension so long as the placement is
24 consistent with the public school district's written student discipline
25 policy;
26 (2) Return the student to the class; or
27 (3) Take other appropriate action consistent with the public
28 school district's discipline policy, state law, and federal law.
29 (d)(1)(A) If Each time a teacher removes a student from class two (2) times
30 during any nine-week grading period or its equivalent as determined by the
31 Division of Elementary and Secondary Education, the principal or the
32 principal's designee may shall not return the student to the teacher's class
33 unless until a conference is held for the purpose of determining the causes
34 of the problem and possible solutions, with the following individuals
35 present:
36 (A)(i) The principal or the principal's designee
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1 (B)(ii) The teacher;
2 (C)(iii) The school counselor;
3 (D)(iv) The parents, guardians, or persons standing in
4 loco parentis; and
5 (E)(v) The student, if appropriate.
6 (B) However, a teacher is not required to remove a student
7 from class each time the student is unruly or disruptive during the teacher's
8 class.
9 (2) The failure of the parents, guardians, or persons in loco
10 parentis to attend the conference provided for in this subsection required
11 under subdivision (d)(1) of this section shall not prevent the conference
12 from being held nor or prevent any action from being taken as a result of
13 that conference.
14 (3) If a student with a disability identified under the
15 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. � 1400 et seq., as it
16 existed on January 1, 2025, or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973,
17 Pub. L. No. 93-112, as it existed on January 1, 2025, is removed under this
18 subsection (d), then the conference required under subdivision (d)(1) of this
19 section shall serve as a manifestation determination review as required under
20 subsection (f) of this section.
21 (4) If it is determined during a conference held under this
22 subsection (d) that the student was removed from the teacher's class because
23 of violent behavior, the individuals conducting the conference shall
24 determine if a behavioral threat assessment is necessary for the student.
25 (e) Except as provided in subsection (f) of this section, a student
26 who is removed from a class under subsection (b) of this section due to
27 violent or abusive behavior against a teacher or another student shall:
28 (1)(A) Be placed in an appropriate interim learning environment
29 for the duration of the review and conference as required by subsection (d)
30 of this section.
31 (B) While the student is in an appropriate interim
32 learning environment as required by subdivision (e)(1)(A) of this section,
33 the student shall be subject to the relevant written student discipline
34 policies prescribed by his or her public school district; and
35 (2) Not be placed in a class with the teacher or student against
36 whom the violent or abusive behavior was directed if it is determined that
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1 the student may leave the appropriate interim learning environment and return
2 to the placement from which he or she was removed.
3 (f)(1)(A) If the violent or abusive behavior for which a student is
4 removed from class under this section is determined to be a manifestation of
5 the student's disability following a manifestation determination review of
6 the student's violent or abusive behavior under subdivision (f)(2) of this
7 section, then the student shall be temporarily placed in an appropriate
8 interim learning environment within the public school district for no more
9 than ten (10) days while the members of the manifestation determination
10 review team determine the appropriate course of action under this subsection
11 (f).
12 (B) While the student is in an appropriate interim
13 learning environment as required by subdivision (f)(1)(A) of this section,
14 the student shall be subject to the relevant written student discipline
15 policies prescribed by his or her public school district.
16 (2) If the public school district, teacher against whom the
17 violent or abusive behavior was directed, parents, legal guardians, or
18 persons standing in loco parentis to the student, and relevant members of the
19 student's individualized education program under � 6-41-217 determine that
20 the student requires a change of placement, then the public school district,
21 teacher against whom the violent or abusive behavior was directed, parents,
22 legal guardians, or persons standing in loco parentis to the student, and
23 relevant members of the student's individualized education program shall
24 conduct a manifestation determination review, which shall include all
25 relevant information in the student's file, including the student's
26 individualized education program under � 6-41-217, teacher observations, and
27 other relevant information provided by the parent or legal guardian of the
28 student.
29 (g) If a student is removed from a classroom under this
30 section due to violent or abusive behavior three (3) or more times during one
31 (1) school year, the student shall be:
32 (1) Placed in an appropriate interim learning environment for
33 the remainder of the school year; or
34 (2) Disciplined according to the requirements of the written
35 student discipline policy of the public school district in which the student
36 is enrolled.
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1 (h) As used in this section:
2 (1) "Appropriate interim learning environment" means an
3 appropriate learning environment that is used for a period of time not to
4 exceed ten (10) days;
5 (2) "Appropriate learning environment" means a setting within a
6 public school or public school district that provides a similar structure to
7 the following without limitation:
8 (A) A classroom; or;
9 (B) In-school suspension; and
10 (3) "Violent or abusive behavior" means without limitation:
11 (A) Using threatening language;
12 (B) Throwing an item that risks or causes:
13 (i) Harm to another individual;
14 (ii) Injury to another individual; or
15 (iii) Damage to property;
16 (C) Physically abusing a teacher or another student; or
17 (D) Any other similar action that presents a physical
18 danger or a threat of physical danger to a teacher or another student.
19 (i) This section does not apply to:
20 (1) An educational facility of the Division of Youth Services;
21 (2) An educational facility that contracts with the division; or
22 (3) The Arkansas Correctional School District.
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29 /s/R. Scott Richardson
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5 03-31-2025 13:14:14 TNL034Every fact on this page links to its source, starting with the official bill record.