SB400

This bill amends the Public School Choice Act of 2015 and the Arkansas Opportunity Public School Choice Act to regulate extracurricular participation for students who transfer to nonresident school districts. It mandates that transferred students cannot be denied access to extracurricular activities or disciplined solely due to the act of transferring. To ensure compliance, the bill requires the completion of a 'Changing Schools/Athletic Participation' form, which must be signed by the superintendents of both the resident and receiving districts, as well as the student's parent or guardian. Superintendents are directed to sign these forms unless there is clear evidence of athletic-based recruiting or that the transfer was made exclusively for athletic purposes. Furthermore, the bill explicitly prohibits school personnel and volunteers from recruiting students for athletic purposes and provides a legal definition for such prohibited recruiting. The scope of these regulations applies to students in grades seven through twelve who enroll in a new district by July 1.