(a) Any public school district may enter into a cooperative agreement with local law enforcement officials to implement within the district an “Operation Stay in School Program”.
(b) Upon the request of the board of directors of the school district, the law enforcement agency shall stipulate, with the administration of the school district, specific days and hours when law enforcement officers will attempt to locate school-age students in the community who are off school premises during school hours without valid documentation excusing their absence.
(c) Any certified law enforcement officer may stop and detain any unsupervised school-age student located off school premises during school hours and request the production of documentation excusing the student's absence from school.
(d) Upon the student's failure to produce sufficient documentation, the law enforcement officer may take the student into custody and return the student to his or her school, transport the student to his or her parent, or transport the student to the truancy reception center, which shall not be a jail, juvenile detention center, or police department, and which has been designated by the school district.
(e)
(1) Any school district adopting this program shall include in its attendance policy a notice to parents and students that it has entered into a cooperative agreement with law enforcement officials to implement an Operation Stay in School Program, and unsupervised students found off school premises during school hours shall be subject to questioning by a law enforcement officer under the program.
(2) Any school district adopting this program shall include provisions for furnishing valid documentation for a student in work-study programs or other authorized absences from school premises in order to assist law enforcement officers in determining the validity of documentation excusing the student's absence from school during school hours.
Structure Arkansas Code
Subtitle 2 - Elementary and Secondary Education Generally
§ 6-18-201. Compulsory attendance — Exceptions
§ 6-18-202. Age and residence for attending public schools — Definitions
§ 6-18-203. Attendance in district other than district of residence
§ 6-18-204. Attendance in another district — Conditions
§ 6-18-205. Attendance in another district — Liability
§ 6-18-207. Minimum age for enrollment in public school
§ 6-18-208. Requirements for enrollment in public school — Exceptions
§ 6-18-209. Adoption of student attendance policies — Effect of unexcused absences
§ 6-18-213. Attendance records and reports generally
§ 6-18-214. Records of students leaving school without graduating
§ 6-18-215. School enrollment census — Determining student dropout rates
§ 6-18-217. Records to be kept by teachers
§ 6-18-219. False attendance reports
§ 6-18-221. Cooperation of law enforcement agencies
§ 6-18-222. Penalty for unexcused absences — Revocation of driving privilege — Definition
§ 6-18-223. Credit for college courses
§ 6-18-226. Community truancy boards — Members — Duties
§ 6-18-227. Arkansas Opportunity Public School Choice Act
§ 6-18-228. Attending classes and programs not offered by an assigned school
§ 6-18-229. Service as page for General Assembly
§ 6-18-230. Minimum age for enrolling in prekindergarten
§ 6-18-231. Additional absences for Arkansas National Guard members
§ 6-18-232. Enrollment of private school or home school students
§ 6-18-233. School choice for children in foster care — Definition