EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES – ELEMENTARY (4.56.1)

The Board believes in providing opportunities for students to participate in extracurricular activities that can help enrich the student’s educational experience. At the same time, the Board believes that a student’s participation in extracurricular activities cannot come at the expense of his/her classroom academic achievement. Interruptions of instructional time in the classroom are to be minimal and absences from class to participate in extracurricular activities shall not exceed one per week per extracurricular activity (tournaments or other similar events excepted with approval of the principal. All students are eligible for extracurricular activities unless specifically denied eligibility on the basis of criteria outlined in this policy.

A student may lose his/her eligibility to participate in extracurricular activities when, in the opinion of the school’s administration, the student’s participation in such an activity may adversely jeopardize his/her academic achievement. Students may also be denied permission to participate in extracurricular activities as a consequence of disciplinary action taken by the administration for inappropriate behavior.

Any student who refuses to sit for a State-wide assessment or attempts to boycott a State-wide assessment by failing to put forth a good faith effort on the assessment as determined by the assessment administrator/proctor, or whose parents do not send their student to school on the dates the assessments are administered or scheduled as make-up days shall not be permitted to participate in any non-curriculum related extracurricular activity. The student shall remain ineligible to participate until the student takes the same or a following State-wide assessment, as applicable. The superintendent or designee may waive this paragraph's provisions when the student’s failure was due to exceptional or extraordinary circumstances. Students falling under the provisions of this paragraph shall be permitted to attend curriculum related field trips occurring during the school day.

A student who enrolls in the district and meets the definition of “eligible child” in Policy 4.2—ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS shall be eligible to try-out for an extracurricular activity regardless of the date the student enrolls in the District so long as the student meets all other eligibility requirements and the extracurricular activity is still ongoing.

No student shall be required to pay for individual or group instruction in order to participate in an extracurricular activity.

A student and the parent or legal guardian of the student shall sign and return an acknowledgement of receipt and review of an information sheet regarding signs and symptoms of sudden cardiac arrest before the student may participate in an athletic activity and before each school year the student participates in an athletic activity.

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITY ELIGIBILITY FOR HOME SCHOOLED STUDENTS (4.56.2)

Home-schooled student means a student legally enrolled in an Arkansas home school and who meets or has met the criteria for being a home-schooled student, as established by A.C.A. § 6-15-503.

Interscholastic activity means an activity between schools subject to rules of the Arkansas Activities Association that is outside the regular curriculum of the school district, such as an athletic activity, fine arts program, or a special interest group or club.

Each school in the District shall post on its website its schedule of interscholastic activities, including sign-up, tryout, and participation deadlines, at least one semester in advance of those activities. A hard copy of the schedule shall be available upon request.

Home-schooled students whose parents or guardians are legal residents of the school district will be permitted to pursue participation in an interscholastic activity in the student's resident school zone as permitted by this policy.

Home-schooled students whose parent or legal guardian are not residents of the school district will be permitted to pursue participation in an interscholastic activity in the District if: The superintendent of the student’s resident district and the superintendent of the District both agree in writing to allow the student to participate in interscholastic activities at the District; or

• The student's resident school does not offer the interscholastic activity and the superintendent of the non-resident district agrees to allow the student to enroll in the interscholastic activity.

Although not guaranteed participation in an interscholastic activity, home-school students who meet the provisions of this policy, AAA Rules, and applicable Arkansas statutes shall have an equal opportunity to try out and participate in interscholastic activities without discrimination. The District shall provide a reasonable alternative to any prerequisite for eligibility to participate in an interscholastic activity that the home-schooled student is unable to meet because of his or her enrollment in a home school.

No student shall be required to pay for individual or group instruction in order to participate in an interscholastic activity.

To be eligible to try out and participate in interscholastic activities, the student or the parent of a student shall mail or hand deliver the student's request to participate to the student's school's principal before the signup, tryout or participation deadline established for traditional students. Additionally, the student shall demonstrate academic eligibility by obtaining a minimum test score of the 30th percentile or better in the previous 12 months on the Stanford Achievement Test Series, Tenth Edition; another nationally recognized norm-referenced test; or a minimum score on a test approved by the State Board of Education.

A student who meets the requirements for eligibility to participate in an interscholastic activity is required to register for no more than one non-academic course in the District's school where the student is intending to participate in an interscholastic activity that coincides with the interscholastic activity in which the homeschooled student participates and shall be required to be at school only when participation in the interscholastic activity requires other students who participate in the interscholastic activity to be at school.

The student shall regularly attend the class in which the student is registered beginning no later than the eleventh (11th) day of the semester in which the student's interscholastic activity participation is desired. The student must attend the practices for the interscholastic activity to the same extent as is required of traditional students.

A student and the parent or legal guardian of the student shall sign and return an acknowledgement of receipt and review of an information sheet regarding signs and symptoms of sudden cardiac arrest before the student may participate in an athletic activity and before each school year the student participates in an athletic activity.

A home-schooled student who has met the try out criteria; and who has been selected to participate in the interscholastic activity shall meet the following criteria that also apply to traditional students enrolled in the school:

• standards of behavior and codes of conduct;
• attend the practices for the interscholastic activity to the same extent as is required of traditional students;
• required drug testing;
• permission slips, waivers, physical exams; and
• participation or activity fees.

Students who participate in extracurricular or athletic activities under this policy will be transported to and from the interscholastic activities on the same basis as other students are transported.

A home-schooled student may begin participating in an interscholastic activity immediately upon being approved to participate by the District if:

• The home-schooled student has not withdrawn from an Arkansas Activities Association member school; or
• The student has withdrawn from an AAA member school and enrolled in a home school but did not participate in an interscholastic activity that is a varsity sport at the student’s resident district prior to the students withdrawal from the AAA member school.

A student who withdrew from an AAA member school who participated in an interscholastic activity that is a varsity sport at the student’s resident district during the previous three hundred sixty-five (365) days shall not be eligible to immediately participate in an interscholastic activity that is a varsity sport in the District. The student will not become eligible for full participation until the completion of the three hundred sixty-five (365) day period from when the student withdrew. A student who is not eligible for full participation may participate in tryouts, practices, classes, or other endeavors associated with the interscholastic activity until the completion of the three hundred sixty-five (365) day period from when the student withdrew.