Text of AR HB 1684 (2025)

Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law. *TNL079* 03/04/2025 1:53:57 PM TNL079 State of Arkansas 1 95th General Assembly A Bill 2 Regular Session, 2025 HOUSE BILL 1684 3 4 By: Representative McAlindon 5 By: Senator D. Sullivan 6 7 For An Act To Be Entitled 8 AN ACT TO CREATE THE PARENTS AND TEACHERS HELPING 9 STUDENTS SUCCEED (PATHS) ACT; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 10 11 12 Subtitle 13 TO CREATE THE PARENTS AND TEACHERS 14 HELPING STUDENTS SUCCEED (PATHS) ACT. 15 16 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 17 18 SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 6, Chapter 10, Subchapter 1, is amended 19 to add an additional section to read as follows: 20 6-10-140. Parents and Teachers Helping Students Succeed (PATHS) Act — 21 Definitions. 22 (a) This section shall be known and may be cited as the "Parents and 23 Teachers Helping Students Succeed (PATHS) Act". 24 (b) As used in this section: 25 (1) "Critical theory concept" means an idea that espouses, 26 promotes, advances, or compels a student to believe any of the following 27 concepts that constitute discrimination based on race, color, sex, or 28 national origin: 29 (A) That members of one (1) race, color, sex, or national 30 origin are morally superior to members of another race, color, sex, or 31 national origin; 32 (B) That an individual by virtue of his or her race, 33 color, sex, or national origin is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, 34 whether consciously or unconsciously; 35 (C) That an individual's moral character or status as 36 HB1684 2 03/04/2025 1:53:57 PM TNL079 either privileged or oppressed is necessarily determined by his or her race, 1 color, sex, or national origin; 2 (D) That members of one (1) race, color, sex, or national 3 origin cannot and should not attempt to treat others without respect to race, 4 color, sex, or national origin; 5 (E) That an individual by virtue of his or her race color, 6 sex, or national origin, bears responsibility for or should be discriminated 7 against or receive adverse treatment because of actions committed in the past 8 by other members of his or her race, color, sex, or national origin; 9 (F) That an individual by virtue of his or her race color, 10 sex, or national origin should be discriminated against or receive adverse 11 treatment to achieve diversity, equity, or inclusion; 12 (G) That an individual should feel discomfort, guilt, 13 anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her 14 race, color, sex, or national origin; or 15 (H) That such virtues as merit, excellence, hard work, 16 fairness, neutrality, objectivity, and racial colorblindness are racist or 17 sexist or were created by members of a particular race, color, sex, or 18 national origin to oppress members of another race, color, sex, or national 19 origin; 20 (2) "Parent" means: 21 (A) A biological or adoptive parent of a student; 22 (B) A legal guardian of a student; 23 (C) A person standing in loco parentis to a student; or 24 (D) Another person with legal authority to act on behalf 25 of a student; and 26 (3) "School" means: 27 (A) A school in a public school district; or 28 (B) An open-enrollment public charter school. 29 (c) A parent shall be entitled to: 30 (1) Access all information that directly relates to his or her 31 child under to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. § 32 1232g, as it existed on January 1, 2025, from the school in which his or her 33 child is enrolled; 34 (2) Review, upon request, all of the following that are used in 35 a classroom to which the parent's student is assigned, including while the 36 HB1684 3 03/04/2025 1:53:57 PM TNL079 parent's student is participating in virtual or remote learning: 1 (A) Teaching materials; 2 (B) Instructional materials; 3 (C) Required textbooks; 4 (D) Course syllabi; 5 (E) Lesson plans; and 6 (F) Other teaching aids; 7 (3)(A) Remove his or her student temporarily from a class or 8 other school activity if the class or other school activity conflicts with 9 his or her religious or moral beliefs or if he or she deems the class or 10 other school activity to espouse, promote, advance, or compel his or her 11 student to adopt a critical theory concept. 12 (B)(i) A parent who removes his or her student temporarily 13 from a class or other school activity under subdivision (c)(3)(A) of this 14 section shall present or deliver to the teacher of his or her child a written 15 statement that authorizes the temporary removal of his or her student from 16 the class or other school activity. 17 (ii) However, a parent shall not remove his or her 18 student temporarily from a class under subdivision (c)(3)(A) of this section 19 in order to: 20 (a) Avoid the administration of a test to his 21 or her student; or 22 (b) Prevent his or her student from taking a 23 subject for the duration of the academic semester; and 24 (4) Gain access to a meeting of the following, except in cases 25 of an executive session or when prohibited by law or court order: 26 (A) The public school district board of directors of the 27 public school district in which his or her student is enrolled; or 28 (B) The governing body of the open-enrollment public 29 charter school in which his or her student is enrolled. 30 (d) A public school district board of directors and a governing body 31 of an open-enrollment public charter school shall: 32 (1) Make available for review by parents, upon request, all of 33 the following that are reasonably available: 34 (A) Teaching materials; 35 (B) Required textbooks; 36 HB1684 4 03/04/2025 1:53:57 PM TNL079 (C) Course syllabi; 1 (D) Lesson plans; and 2 (E) Required tests scheduled for the year; 3 (2)(A) Adopt procedures for notifying a student's parent within 4 twenty-four (24) hours, or the timeframe otherwise specified by state or 5 federal law, if there is a change in the services provided by the school or 6 monitoring related to the student's mental, emotional, or physical health or 7 well-being or the school's ability to provide a safe and supportive learning 8 environment for the student. 9 (B) Procedures adopted under subdivision (d)(2)(A) of this 10 section shall reinforce the fundamental right of a parent to make decisions 11 regarding the upbringing and control of the parent's student by requiring 12 school personnel to: 13 (i) Encourage a student to discuss issues relating 14 to his or her well-being with the his or her parent; or 15 (ii) Facilitate discussion of the student's well- 16 being with the his or her parent. 17 (C) Procedures adopted under subdivision (d)(2)(A) of this 18 section shall not prohibit a parent from accessing any of the education and 19 health records pertaining to the parent's student that are created, 20 maintained, or used by the school in which the parent's student is enrolled 21 and that the parent is entitled to access under the Family Educational Rights 22 and Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1232g, as it existed on January 1, 2025, or 23 other state or federal law; and 24 (3)(A) Not adopt procedures or student support forms that: 25 (i) Prohibit school personnel from notifying the 26 parent of a student regarding: 27 (a) The student's mental, emotional, or 28 physical health or well-being; or 29 (b) A change in related services or monitoring 30 as it pertains to the student; or 31 (ii) Encourage a student to withhold information 32 from his or her parent as it pertains to his or her mental, emotional, or 33 physical health or well-being or a change in related services or monitoring 34 as it pertains to him or her. 35 (B)(i) School personnel shall not discourage or prohibit 36 HB1684 5 03/04/2025 1:53:57 PM TNL079 parental notification of and involvement in critical decisions that affect a 1 student's mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being. 2 (ii) However, a school may adopt procedures that 3 permit school personnel to withhold parental notification of information 4 described under subdivision (d)(3)(B)(i) of this section if a reasonably 5 prudent person would believe that the disclosure of the information could 6 result in abuse, abandonment, or neglect of a student or if disclosure is 7 prohibited by law. 8 (e)(1) A teacher employed by a school may control and discipline 9 students in his or her classroom and in other locations in which the teacher 10 is assigned to supervise. 11 (2) In order to provide an orderly and safe learning environment 12 for students, a teacher may: 13 (A) Establish classroom rules of conduct; 14 (B) Establish and implement consequences that are designed 15 to change behavior following an infraction of the classroom rules of conduct; 16 (C) Have a disobedient, disrespectful, violent, abusive, 17 uncontrollable, or disruptive students removed from his or her classroom for 18 behavior management supervision; 19 (D) Assist in enforcing school rules on school property, 20 while on school-sponsored transportation, or during a school-sponsored 21 activity; 22 (E) Request and receive information relating to the 23 disposition of a student referral to school administration following the 24 student's violation of classroom rules of conduct or school rules; 25 (F) Request and receive immediate assistance in his or her 26 classroom if a student becomes uncontrollable or in the case of an emergency; 27 (G) Request and receive training and other assistance to 28 improve his or her skills in classroom management, violence prevention, 29 conflict resolution, and related areas; 30 (H) Press charges if there is a reason to believe that a 31 crime has been committed on school property, on school-sponsored 32 transportation, or during a school-sponsored activity; and 33 (I) Use reasonable force to protect himself or herself or 34 others from injury, as authorized under § 5-2-605. 35 (3) In the event a teacher faces litigation or allegations of 36 HB1684 6 03/04/2025 1:53:57 PM TNL079 licensure violations for an action taken under subdivision (e)(2) of this 1 section, there is a rebuttable presumption that the teacher took necessary 2 action to restore or maintain the safety or educational atmosphere of his or 3 her classroom. 4 (f)(1) The Division of Elementary and Secondary Education shall 5 promulgate rules to implement this section. 6 (2) The division shall submit to the House Committee on 7 Education and the Senate Committee on Education for the House Committee on 8 Education's review and the Senate Committee on Education's review the 9 proposed rules required under subdivision (f)(1) of this section. 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36