1. (a) Arkansas Code § 6-18-201(a), concerning the age for compulsory attendance for school enrollment, is that: “Under the penalty for noncompliance as shall be set by law, every parent, guardian, or other person residing within the State of Arkansas having custody or charge of any child age five (5) through seventeen (17) … shall enroll and send the child to a public, private, or parochial school or provide a home school for the child …”
2. (b) Under special circumstances, persons sixteen (16) or seventeen (17) years of age may be enrolled in adult education programs.

3. (c)

   1. (1) Public schools shall not release a student making application to the school district for a waiver until the adult education program agrees in writing to serve that student.

   2. (2) A local school district may grant a waiver of attendance requirement to any student age sixteen (16) or seventeen (17) to enroll in an adult education program only after all of the following requirements have been met:

      1. (A) The student makes formal application to the school district for a waiver to enroll in an adult education program;
      2. (B) After formal application and prior to any further action on the application, the student shall be administered either a current National Reporting System (NRS) and state-approved assessment test under standardized testing conditions by a designated K-12 public school official or adult education personnel;
      3. (C)
4. (i)
5. (a) (a) If administered the TABE test (Level A, current form, Survey, or Complete Battery), the student shall score eight and five-tenths (8.5) or above on all sections.
6. (b) (b) If administered the official GED® practice test, the student must score a minimum of one hundred forty-five (145) on each section.

7. (c) (c) If administered another NRS-approved assessment, the student must meet the minimum score for that assessment as outlined in the test publisher’s guidelines.

   1. (ii) Note.
8. (a) (a) An exception to the minimum test score is allowable when a sixteen-year-old or seventeen-year-old has been court ordered to enroll in adult education.

9. (b) (b) These individuals must adhere to all other requirements set forth in this policy.

   1. (iii) Note. Such minimum test scores shall not be required of any student who is subject to the attendance requirement of this policy but was not enrolled in any school district during the previous school year;

      1. (D) The student and the student’s parents, guardians, or persons in loco parentis meet with the school counselor to discuss academic options open to the student;
      2. (E) The school district determines that the student is a proper candidate for enrollment in adult education, contingent upon approval by the appropriate adult education program;
      3. (F) The adult education program reviews the student’s school and testing records and agrees to admit the student into the program;
      4. (G) The adult education program shall report attendance of all sixteen-year-old and seventeen-year-old enrollees to the sending school district on at least a monthly basis;

      5. (H)

         1. (i) The adult education program shall require for continued enrollment a minimum of twenty (20) hours per week of class attendance and instruction.
         2. (ii) A minimum of ten (10) hours of attendance per week shall be required for any student who is employed for thirty (30) hours or more each week;

      6. (I) The student, the student’s parents, guardians, or persons in loco parentis, and the administrative head of the adult education program agree in writing that the student will:

         1. (i) Attend the requisite number of hours per week; and
         2. (ii) Maintain appropriate conduct as outlined in the local adult education program student handbook;
      7. (J) In the event that a more appropriate assessment test or testing and assessment mechanism shall be developed to determine a reasonable level of competency for success at the adult education level, that test or mechanism shall be substituted, with the approval of the Adult Education Section of the Division of Workforce Services, for the tests required in this policy; and

      8. (K) If the student does not attend class as mandated in this policy or make reasonable progress toward the completion of the adult education curriculum, the student shall reenroll in the public schools within five (5) days from the date the student is released from the adult education program.

         1. (d) Note. Any variation in the required documentation must be approved by the Adult Education Section.
10. (e) Note. The above requirements shall not apply to students enrolled in a private, parochial, or home school in the state.
11. (f) Note. Under Arkansas Code § 6-18-201, any person age sixteen (16) or seventeen (17) who has received a high school diploma or its equivalent as determined by the State Board of Education is not subject to the compulsory attendance requirement.

Codification Notes: “GED” means General Educational Development test. This section as promulgated prior to codification into the Code of Arkansas Rules provided as follows: "INFORMATION/RATIONALE: The ages established for compulsory school attendance by Arkansas Act 292 of 1991 are ages five through seventeen, both inclusive. This Act allows, after certain provisions have been met, for persons age 16 or 17 to enroll in adult education programs. Arkansas Acts 1659 of 2001 and Act 604 of 2003 detail the process that must be followed and requirements that must be met to allow persons age sixteen or seventeen to enroll in adult education programs. Relevant sections of federal law and regulation: Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 (P.L. 113-128), Title II, The Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA), Section 203(1)(4). "Adult Education means services or instruction below the post-secondary level for individuals who have attained sixteen years of age; (and) who are not enrolled or required to be enrolled in secondary school under State law."" "EFFECTIVE DATE: MAY 18, 1992 REVISED DATE: SEPTEMBER 13, 1993 REVISED DATE: APRIL 18, 2003 REVISED DATE: NOVEMBER 15, 2008 REVISED DATE: AUGUST 4, 2015 REVISED DATE: DECEMBER 31, 2017"