Arkansas requires all children ages 5 through 17 to attend school. If a parent wishes, they can opt out of kindergarten for their 5-year-old by submitting the state's kindergarten waiver. The birthday cut-off date is Aug. 15 which means the child must turn 5 by Aug. 15 to begin school. However, Arkansas is changing the birthday cut-off date to Aug. 1. The school year in 2011-2012 will reflect the new date.
Arkansas requires home schooling families to submit a letter of intent to the local public school superintendent and sign a waiver. The public school superintendent's office supplies these forms. Submit this written notification yearly by Aug. 15. The forms will include your children's names, birth dates, addresses, grade levels and any schools previously attended, if any. You also have to report the basic core curriculum you will use, a proposed schedule of instruction and the educational qualification of the teacher which is basically reporting your level of education. The waiver that must be signed states that you, as a home schooling parent, release the state of Arkansas from any liability or responsibility of educating your children during this period of home schooling.
As a first-time home schooling family, you must present your letter of intent and signed waiver in person to the public school superintendent's office. Families moving into a new school district have 30 days to submit the paperwork to the local public school superintendent's office to be allowed to continue home schooling. Your letter of intent and signed waiver are due to the public school's superintendent's office no later than Dec. 15 if you are starting home schooling at the beginning of the spring semester. If you are transferring your child from a public school setting to home schooling during the middle of the semester, the school may require you to wait 14 days before taking your child out of school. The purpose of this waiting time is to address any outstanding disciplinary actions or unexcused absences issues, but can be waived under the circumstances.
Since the state of Arkansas requires high school students to submit a copy of a report card in order to receive their driver's license, home schooling families have additional requirements to fulfill to be eligible. Submit a notarized letter of intent to home school to the Arkansas State Police when your home school students take their written exam for a driver's license.
All students in Arkansas, whether in a public school or in home school must take yearly standardized tests. Students in grades 3 through 9 take these achievement tests, and since the state mandates this testing, the state provides the test for home schooling families. Home schooling students will not have their scores monitored for any minimum scores, but refusing to take these standardized tests could make the state press truancy charges.