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 Arkansas As Engrossed: H3/19/25
2 95th General Assembly
A Bill
3 Regular Session, 2025 HOUSE BILL 1684
4
5 By: Representative McAlindon
6 By: Senator D. Sullivan
7
8 For An Act To Be Entitled
9 AN ACT TO CREATE THE PARENTS AND TEACHERS HELPING
10 STUDENTS SUCCEED (PATHS) ACT; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
11
12
13 Subtitle
14 TO CREATE THE PARENTS AND TEACHERS
15 HELPING STUDENTS SUCCEED (PATHS) ACT.
16
17 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS:
18
19 SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 6, Chapter 10, Subchapter 1, is amended
20 to add an additional section to read as follows:
21 6-10-140. Parents and Teachers Helping Students Succeed (PATHS) Act --
22 Definitions.
23 (a) This section shall be known and may be cited as the "Parents and
24 Teachers Helping Students Succeed (PATHS) Act".
25 (b) As used in this section:
26 (1) "Parent" means:
27 (A) A biological or adoptive parent of a student;
28 (B) A legal guardian of a student;
29 (C) A person standing in loco parentis to a student; or
30 (D) Another person with legal authority to act on behalf
31 of a student; and
32 (2) "School" means:
33 (A) A school in a public school district; or
34 (B) An open-enrollment public charter school.
35 (c) A parent shall be entitled to:
36 (1) Access all information that directly relates to his or her
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1 child under to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. �
2 1232g, as it existed on January 1, 2025, from the school in which his or her
3 child is enrolled;
4 (2)(A) Review, upon request, all of the following that are used
5 in a classroom to which the parent's student is assigned, including while the
6 parent's student is participating in virtual or remote learning:
7 (i) Teaching materials;
8 (ii) Instructional materials;
9 (iii) Required textbooks;
10 (iv) Course syllabi;
11 (v) Lesson plans; and
12 (vi) Other teaching aids.
13 (B) A school may allow a parent to review materials under
14 subdivision (c)(2)(A) of this section that are reasonably available:
15 (i) In person after the parent submits a request to
16 his or her student's school at least seventy-two (72) hours in advance; or
17 (ii)(a) In the form of a photocopy of the materials,
18 a mailed copy of a photocopy of the materials, or via email that includes a
19 digital file of the materials if it is reasonable for the school to make a
20 photocopy of the materials or a scanned file of the materials based on the
21 volume of the materials.
22 (b) The form in which a parent receives
23 materials under subdivision (c)(2)(B)(ii)(a) of this section shall be within
24 the discretion of the school in consultation with a parent;
25 (3)(A) Remove his or her student temporarily from a class
26 or other school activity if the class or other school activity conflicts
27 with his or her religious or moral beliefs or if he or she deems the class
28 or other school activity to espouse, promote, advance, or compel his or her
29 student to adopt a concept that constitutes prohibited indoctrination as
30 defined in � 6-16-156.
31 (B)(i) A parent who removes his or her student temporarily
32 from a class or other school activity under subdivision (c)(3)(A) of this
33 section shall present or deliver to the teacher of his or her child a written
34 statement that authorizes the temporary removal of his or her student from the
35 class or other school activity.
36 (ii) However, a parent shall not remove his or her
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1 student temporarily from a class under subdivision (c)(3)(A) of this section
2 in order to:
3 (a) Avoid the administration of a test to his
4 or her student; or
5 (b) Prevent his or her student from taking a
6 subject for the duration of the academic semester; and
7 (4) Gain access to a meeting of the following, except in cases
8 of an executive session or when prohibited by law or court order:
9 (A) The public school district board of directors of the
10 public school district in which his or her student is enrolled; or
11 (B) The governing body of the open-enrollment public
12 charter school in which his or her student is enrolled.
13 (d) A public school district board of directors and a governing body
14 of an open-enrollment public charter school shall:
15 (1)(A) Make available for review by parents, upon request, all
16 of the following that are reasonably available:
17 (i) Teaching materials;
18 (ii) Required textbooks;
19 (iii) Course syllabi;
20 (iv) Lesson plans; and
21 (v) Required tests scheduled for the year.
22 (B) A school may allow a parent to review materials under
23 subdivision (d)(1)(A) of this section:
24 (i) In person after the parent submits a request to
25 his or her student's school at least seventy-two (72) hours in advance; or
26 (ii)(a) In the form of a photocopy of the materials,
27 a mailed copy of a photocopy of the materials, or via email that includes a
28 digital file of the scanned materials if it is reasonable for the school to
29 make a photocopy of the materials or a scanned file of the materials based on
30 the volume of the materials.
31 (b) The form in which a parent receives
32 materials under subdivision (d)(1)(B)(ii)(a) of this section shall be within
33 the discretion of the school in consultation with a parent;
34 (2)(A) Adopt procedures for notifying a student's parent within
35 twenty-four (24) hours, or the timeframe otherwise specified by state or
36 federal law, if there is a change in the services provided by the school or
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1 monitoring related to the student's mental, emotional, or physical health or
2 well-being or the school's ability to provide a safe and supportive learning
3 environment for the student.
4 (B) Procedures adopted under subdivision (d)(2)(A) of this
5 section shall reinforce the fundamental right of a parent to make decisions
6 regarding the upbringing and control of the parent's student by requiring
7 school personnel to:
8 (i) Encourage a student to discuss issues relating
9 to his or her well-being with the his or her parent; or
10 (ii) Facilitate discussion of the student's well-
11 being with the his or her parent.
12 (C) Procedures adopted under subdivision (d)(2)(A) of this
13 section shall not prohibit a parent from accessing any of the education and
14 health records pertaining to the parent's student that are created,
15 maintained, or used by the school in which the parent's student is enrolled
16 and that the parent is entitled to access under the Family Educational Rights
17 and Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. � 1232g, as it existed on January 1, 2025, or
18 other state or federal law; and
19 (3)(A) Not adopt procedures or student support forms that:
20 (i) Prohibit school personnel from notifying the
21 parent of a student regarding:
22 (a) The student's mental, emotional, or
23 physical health or well-being; or
24 (b) A change in related services or monitoring
25 as it pertains to the student; or
26 (ii) Encourage a student to withhold information
27 from his or her parent as it pertains to his or her mental, emotional, or
28 physical health or well-being or a change in related services or monitoring
29 as it pertains to him or her.
30 (B)(i) School personnel shall not discourage or prohibit
31 parental notification of and involvement in critical decisions that affect a
32 student's mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being.
33 (ii) However, a school may adopt procedures that
34 permit school personnel to withhold parental notification of information
35 described under subdivision (d)(3)(B)(i) of this section if a reasonably
36 prudent person would believe that the disclosure of the information could
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1 result in abuse, abandonment, or neglect of a student or if disclosure is
2 prohibited by law.
3 (e)(1) A teacher employed by a school may control and discipline
4 students in his or her classroom and in other locations in which the teacher
5 is assigned to supervise.
6 (2) In order to provide an orderly and safe learning environment
7 for students, a teacher shall:
8 (A) Establish classroom rules of conduct;
9 (B) Establish and implement consequences that are designed
10 to change behavior following an infraction of the classroom rules of conduct;
11 (C) Have a disobedient, disrespectful, violent, abusive,
12 uncontrollable, or disruptive students removed from his or her classroom for
13 behavior management supervision;
14 (D) Assist in enforcing school rules on school property,
15 while on school-sponsored transportation, or during a school-sponsored
16 activity;
17 (E) Request and receive information relating to the
18 disposition of a student referral to school administration following the
19 student's violation of classroom rules of conduct or school rules; and
20 (F) Request and receive immediate assistance in his or her
21 classroom if a student becomes uncontrollable or in the case of an emergency.
22 (3) To provide an orderly and safe learning environment for
23 students, a teacher may:
24 (A) Request and receive training and other assistance to
25 improve his or her skills in classroom management, violence prevention,
26 conflict resolution, and related areas;
27 (B) Press charges if there is a reason to believe that a
28 crime has been committed on school property, on school-sponsored
29 transportation, or during a school-sponsored activity; and
30 (C) Use reasonable force to protect himself or herself or
31 others from injury, as authorized under � 5-2-605.
32 (4) In the event a teacher faces litigation or allegations of
33 licensure violations for an action taken under subdivision (e)(2) or (e)(3)
34 of this section, there is a rebuttable presumption that the teacher took
35 necessary action to restore or maintain the safety or educational atmosphere
36 of his or her classroom.
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1 (f)(1) The Division of Elementary and Secondary Education shall
2 promulgate rules to implement this section.
3 (2) The division shall submit to the House Committee on
4 Education and the Senate Committee on Education for the House Committee on
5 Education's review and the Senate Committee on Education's review the
6 proposed rules required under subdivision (f)(1) of this section.
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6 03-19-2025 14:28:12 TNL079Every fact on this page links to its source, starting with the official bill record.