Policy Guidance:
Everything that is new in the policies is underlined in red. The portions that are to be removed from the policies
are struck through and are in blue.
Policies Changed or added:
1.9—POLICY FORMULATION - We amended this policy to try make it clearer to try to address the high
level of confusion that seems to accompany policy adoption. We also added existing language from A.C.A. § 618-502(b)(1)(2) that requires input on student discipline policies.
3.1—LICENSED PERSONNEL SALARY SCHEDULE - Changes were made to help districts adopt a
proper "finished" policy that gets sent to the ADE. The changes do not go into the final policy and as such do
not have to go through the PPC, but the actual policy which includes the salary components have to go through
the PPC.
3.2—LICENSED PERSONNEL EVALUATIONS - This policy was NOT amended at this time. Please see
the explanation for why it was not amended in the document that is included in this update along with the
amended policies. In addition to the explanation, there are suggestions for how to approach TESS and how to
put your chosen approach into policy.
3.4—LICENSED PERSONNEL REDUCTION IN FORCE - "laid off" was replaced where it appeared in
the policy with "non-renewed" for consistency purposes. Also, "or terminated" was added as applicable
throughout the policy in conjunction with "non-renewed."
3.8—LICENSED PERSONNEL SICK LEAVE - OPTION A - Some tweaking was done to better align
with FMLA and a footnote was amended to help explain adoption leave.
3.8—LICENSED PERSONNEL SICK LEAVE- OPTION B - This is a new optional version of the Sick
Leave policy that is advised only if your district is REALLY good about identifying FMLA leave. Definitions
were added on the first page to define excessive absences to make the policy's fourth paragraph on the second
page (which was also amended) more easily enforceable. Note that failing to properly identify FMLA qualified
leave would trigger the possible disciplinary action based on false criteria which would likely result in a losing
lawsuit.
3.11—LICENSED PERSONNEL PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL LEAVE - a grammatical error in
the last paragraph was corrected and the reference to "Praxis III assessments" was deleted since they are being
eliminated.
3.24—LICENSED PERSONNEL DEBTS - language was added to define exactly what form of garnishment
could trigger disciplinary action.
3.29—LICENSED PERSONNEL SCHOOL CALENDAR - a sentence was added to align with ACTAAP
Rules stipulating that the school calendar couldn't interfere with ACTAAP testing.
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3.32—LICENSED PERSONNEL FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE - several "clean up" changes were made,
a new paragraph was added to address a component of "Intermittent Leave" that was not addressed in the last
update, and a new footnote was added concerning the definition of "son or daughter" triggered by a Wage and
Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor Guidance. The footnote triggered a renumbering of all but the
first footnote.
3.34—LICENSED PERSONNEL CELL PHONE USE - a new footnote was added. This does not change
the policy and does not have to go through the PPC.
3.42—OBTAINING and RELEASING RELEASE OF STUDENT’S FREE AND REDUCED PRICE
MEAL ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION - As noted by the policy's name change, a new section was added
to address how districts may and may not obtain the information.
3.46—LICENSED PERSONNEL VACATIONS - The second paragraph was amended and a footnote was
added to explain options regarding the policy's last paragraph.
3.48—LICENSED PERSONNEL WEAPONS ON CAMPUS - this is a new policy addressing what the
title says it addresses. The second part of the policy necessitates making the choice between two options.
3.49---TEACHERS' REMOVAL OF STUDENT FROM CLASSROOM - this is a new policy to address
the recommendation contained in the ADE's new Rules on the Review of Student Discipline Policies.
4.5—SCHOOL CHOICE - a paragraph was added giving transportation options for school choice students
and a second paragraph was added stipulating choice options for districts in academic or fiscal distress.
4.17—STUDENT DISCIPLINE - The third paragraph was amended to clarify that the board doesn't have to
approve PPC recommended changes to student discipline policies.
4.22—WEAPONS AND DANGEROUS INSTRUMENTS - a footnote was added for the fifth paragraph to
explain the options for possible amendments to the paragraph. While this change to the footnote does not
require board approval, its subject matter should certainly be discussed by the board and district personnel.
4.34—COMMUNICABLE DISEASES AND PARASITES - Hepatitis A was added to the list of
communicable diseases in the first paragraph along with a footnote advising consultation with your district's
school nurse for possible tweaking to the list.
4.35—STUDENT MEDICATIONS - This policy was amended and sent out in August along with a
statement that it would be included in this policy update. However, since that time, a review of the Standards for
Accreditation Checklist necessitated the addition of a sentence at the end of the policy's first paragraph. This is
the only change to the policy since we sent it out in August. For those districts that didn't change the policy
based on the August email, the changes that were included in the August version have been left identified in red
and blue.
4.35F3—GLUCAGON ADMINISTRATION AND CARRY CONSENT FORM - the title was amended.
© 2013 Arkansas School Boards Association
4.37—EMERGENCY DRILLS - A.C.A. § 6-15-1302 was added to the legal references and, at the request of
an astute observer, "Airplane crash" was deleted from the list of possible emergency drills.
4.42—STUDENT HANDBOOK - The references to the two Smart Core policies (4.45 and 4.45.1) were
amended to refer to only 4.45 since we have once again, finally, worked our way through the implementation of
another Smart Core requirement (this time it has been the half credit for economics).
4.45—SMART CORE CURRICULUM AND GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS FOR THE
CLASSES OF 2010-11, 2011-12, AND 2012-13 - the entire policy has been deleted. The new 4.45 is what
used to be the former 4.45.1.
4.45.1—SMART CORE CURRICULUM AND GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS FOR THE
CLASS OF 2013-14 AND ALL CLASSES THEREAFTER - We have, once again, made it through the
implementation of another change to the Smart Core curriculum. What has been 4.45.1 (and includes the ½
credit requirement for economics) is now 4.45. There are a few changes from "certified" to "licensed" that I
overlooked in last spring's updates. These do not change the policy and it doesn't need to go through the Board
approval process.
4.47— POSSESSION AND USE OF CELL PHONES AND OTHER ELECTRONIC DEVICES - a
paragraph was added to align with ACTAAP test security requirements.
4.54 - STUDENT ACCELERATION - this is a new policy that deals with accelerating students by either
advancing a grade or by advancing the content within the student's grade or class.
5.16—GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS FOR THE CLASSES OF 2010-11, 2011-12, AND 2012-13 the entire policy has been deleted. The new 5.16 is what used to be the former 5.16.1.
5.16.1—GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS FOR THE CLASS OF 2013-14 AND ALL CLASSES
THEREAFTER - the title was updated now that the ½ unit of economics has been fully implemented.
5.19.2—EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITY ELIGIBILITY FOR HOME SCHOOLED STUDENTS
(Option A) - For those districts choosing to participate, this is a new policy designed to align with the new
AAA Rules that permit home-schooled students the opportunity to apply to enroll part-time and become
eligible for district extracurricular activities. Due to questions from districts after we sent out the "draft" policy, I
made a couple of changes from the "draft" version. One change to the policy (at the bottom of the first page)
which changed the numbering of some of the footnotes and a second change of adding a Q&A to the footnotes.
While this version is NOT a mandatory policy, the incentive for the Rule was to avoid a Legislative Act
requiring home school eligibility. The degree of district participation and overall success of this "voluntary"
inclusion could be a strong factor in determining whether the Legislature subsequently makes it a statutory
requirement.
5.19.2—EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITY ELIGIBILITY FOR HOME SCHOOLED STUDENTS
(Option B) - This policy is for districts choosing to not participate in the home school extracurricular activity
program.
© 2013 Arkansas School Boards Association
5.19.2F— HOME SCHOOLED STUDENTS' LETTER OF INTENT TO PARTICIPATE IN AN
EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITY - this is the form for parents to use to apply for their home-schooled
child to participate in extracurricular activities.
5.21—ADVANCED PLACEMENT and INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE - IB was added to
the title and language was added to accommodate Standards Assurance regarding teacher training for weighted
credit eligibility.
5.22—CONCURRENT CREDIT - The new Concurrent Credit Rules changed the value of a three hour
college course. The policy was changed accordingly.
7.2—ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET - The legal reference was corrected. This does not change the
policy and it does not have to be approved by the board.
7.5—PURCHASES OF COMMODITIES - language was added to allow renewing or extending contracts
without putting them out for bid providing certain criteria are met.
7.10—PUBLIC USE OF SCHOOL BUILDINGS - Several months ago, ASBA was asked to draft a model
Joint Use Agreement (JUA) policy. Since ASBA strongly supports the underlying goals of Joint Use
Agreements, we undertook discussions between ASBA staff and the ADE. ASBA staff spent many hours
reviewing the literature the ADE Office of Coordinated School Health sends to districts about JUA. The more
we researched, the more uncomfortable we became about both the constitutionality and the potential adverse
consequences of school and district involvement in JUA. The vast majority of "model" literature available was
created by and for other states that have both different constitutions and accompanying statutes to aid and assist
the implementation of JUAs. Finally, ASBA sought the advice of our General Council who, after his review of
the issues, concurred with our concerns. Regrettably, we had to inform the ADE that we could not, in good
faith, develop and issue a model policy to assist districts in entering Joint Use Agreements. The changes to this
policy are a result of the time and effort we spent on this issue.
7.13—MANAGEMENT AND DISPOSAL OF DISTRICT PROPERTY - A definition of "Trash" was
added to address audit concerns regarding the disposal of items of no value.
8.1—CLASSIFIED PERSONNEL SALARY SCHEDULE - an optional paragraph was added to help
districts be more competitive with the private work sector. If you choose to adopt this language, it would have
to go through the proper PPC adoption process. Additionally, Changes were made to help districts adopt a
proper "final" policy that gets sent to the ADE. These first paragraph changes do not go into the final policy and
as such do not have to go through the PPC, but the actual, finalized, policy which includes the actual salary
components do have to go through the PPC.
8.5—CLASSIFIED EMPLOYEES SICK LEAVE - Option A - A sentence structure clarification was made
to the last paragraph in the policy for both clarity purposes and to better mirror the licensed personnel version of
the sick leave policy.
8.5—CLASSIFIED EMPLOYEES SICK LEAVE - Option B - This is a new optional version of the Sick
Leave policy that is advised only if your district is REALLY good about identifying FMLA leave. Definitions
© 2013 Arkansas School Boards Association
were added on the first page to define excessive absences to make the policy's fourth paragraph on the second
page (which was also amended) more easily enforceable. Failing to properly identify FMLA qualified leave
would trigger the possible disciplinary action based on false criteria which would likely result in a losing
lawsuit.
8.18—CLASSIFIED PERSONNEL DEBTS - language was added to define exactly what form of
garnishment could trigger disciplinary action.
8.23—CLASSIFIED PERSONNEL FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE - A couple minor changes were made
and a new footnote was added concerning the definition of "son or daughter" triggered by a Wage and Hour
Division of the U.S. Department of Labor Guidance. The footnote triggered a renumbering of all but the first
footnote.
8.26—CLASSIFIED PERSONNEL RESPONSIBILITIES GOVERNING BULLYING - new language
was added to the third paragraph due to Standards for Accreditation checklist to require training of classified
employees on the policy.
8.30—CLASSIFIED PERSONNEL REDUCTION IN FORCE - "laid off" was replaced where it appeared
in the policy with "non-renewed" for consistency purposes and the option of "no right to recall" was added to
the policy.
8.33—CLASSIFIED PERSONNEL SCHOOL CALENDAR - a sentence was added to align with
ACTAAP Rules stipulating that the school calendar couldn't interfere with ACTAAP testing.
8.35— OBTAINING and RELEASING RELEASE OF STUDENT’S FREE AND REDUCED PRICE
MEAL ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION - As noted by the policy's name change, a new section was added
to address how districts may and may not obtain the information.
8.38—CLASSIFIED PERSONNEL VACATIONS - The second paragraph was amended and a footnote
was added to explain options regarding the policy's last paragraph.
8.40—CLASSIFIED PERSONNEL WEAPONS ON CAMPUS - this is a new policy addressing what the
title says it addresses. The second part of the policy necessitates making the choice between two options.
© 2013 Arkansas School Boards Association