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 A Bill
2 95th General Assembly
3 Regular Session, 2025 SENATE BILL 634
4
5 By: Senators M. Johnson, B. Johnson, A. Clark
6
7
8 For An Act To Be Entitled
9 AN ACT TO CREATE THE DIVISION OF INTERSCHOLASTIC
10 ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE DIVISION OF ELEMENTARY AND
11 SECONDARY EDUCATION; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
12
13
14 Subtitle
15 TO CREATE THE DIVISION OF
16 INTERSCHOLASTIC ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE
17 DIVISION OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY
18 EDUCATION.
19
20 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS:
21
22 SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 6, Chapter 18, Subchapter 1, is amended
23 to add an additional section to read as follows:
24 6-18-116. Division of Interscholastic Activities -- Definitions --
25 Creation -- Duties.
26 (a) To promote the value of student participation in interscholastic
27 activities and to provide fair and impartial oversight of interscholastic
28 activities at schools in the State of Arkansas, the General Assembly finds
29 that a Division of Interscholastic Activities should be established under the
30 direct operational control of the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary
31 Education.
32 (b) As used in this section:
33 (1) "Interscholastic activity" means a school activity not
34 included in a regular curriculum, including without limitation sports and
35 special interest clubs or groups, in which students in grades six through
36 twelve (6-12) participate and compete; and
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1 (2) "School" means:
2 (A) A public school;
3 (B) An open-enrollment public charter school; or
4 (C) A private school.
5 (c) There is created a Division of Interscholastic Activities within
6 the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education.
7 (d)(1) The Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education shall
8 select an individual to serve as the Assistant Commissioner of the Division
9 of Interscholastic Activities, who shall serve at the pleasure of the
10 Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education.
11 (2) The Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education may
12 reassign as necessary Division of Elementary and Secondary Education staff to
13 the Division of Interscholastic Activities sufficient to fulfill the Division
14 of Interscholastic Activities's monitoring and reporting obligations.
15 (e)(1) The person selected as Assistant Commissioner of the Division
16 of Interscholastic Activities shall:
17 (A) Be a person of good moral character and qualified
18 technically and by experience to direct the work of the Division of
19 Interscholastic Activities;
20 (B) Hold a master's degree or an equivalent degree from an
21 accredited institution; and
22 (C) Have at least ten (10) years of experience in an
23 administrative, supervisory, or management position.
24 (2) No person who is related within the fourth degree of
25 consanguinity or affinity to a member of the State Board of Education or to
26 the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education shall be eligible to
27 serve as the Assistant Commissioner of the Division of Interscholastic
28 Activities.
29 (f) With guidance and approval from the Commissioner of Elementary and
30 Secondary Education, the Assistant Commissioner of the Division of
31 Interscholastic Activities shall be responsible for hiring all employees of
32 the Division of Interscholastic Activities.
33 (g) The Division of Interscholastic Activities shall have the
34 following responsibilities:
35 (1) To monitor schools for compliance with the following as it
36 relates to interscholastic activities:
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1 (A) State rules and federal regulations;
2 (B) Legislative acts; and
3 (C) All rules as established by the state board;
4 (2) To promote the educational values inherent in
5 interscholastic activities that contribute to the accepted aims of education
6 while avoiding interference with the educational goals of a school;
7 (3) To ensure that interscholastic activities remain an integral
8 part of an education program;
9 (4) To promote an understanding that participation in
10 interscholastic activities is a privilege for students who meet certain
11 criteria established by the state board;
12 (5) To foster a cooperative spirit of good sportsmanship on the
13 part of school representatives, school patrons, and students;
14 (6) To support opportunities for students to experience the
15 benefits that are derived from teamwork, developing a sense of fair play, and
16 accomplishment;
17 (7) To promote an understanding and appreciation that rules,
18 consistently applied, create order and discipline;
19 (8) To provide standard and consistent interpretations of the
20 rules as adopted by the state board;
21 (9) To conduct championship events according to the procedures
22 adopted by the state board in a thorough and impartial manner;
23 (10) To prevent exploitation of youth by special interest
24 groups;
25 (11) To develop standards of officiating and adjudicating
26 interscholastic activities in order to ensure greater statewide consistency
27 and quality; and
28 (12) To consider the distances required for traveling when
29 scheduling competitions between schools.
30 (h)(1) Each public school and open-enrollment public charter school
31 shall be subject to the oversight of interscholastic activities by the
32 Division of Interscholastic Activities.
33 (2) A private school may choose to be subject to the oversight
34 of its interscholastic activities by the Division of Interscholastic
35 Activities.
36 (i) The Division of Interscholastic Activities shall not discriminate
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1 against an individual on the basis of gender, national origin, race,
2 ethnicity, religion, or disability.
3 (j) By June 1 of each year, the Division of Interscholastic Activities
4 shall provide an annual report on its regulation of interscholastic
5 activities for the previous school year to the House Committee on Education
6 and the Senate Committee on Education.
7 (k) The state board shall promulgate rules to administer this section.
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4 04/08/2025 7:24:37 PM TNL064Every fact on this page links to its source, starting with the official bill record.