AR SB624

Students may now transfer to another public school within their own resident school district, not just to nonresident districts, under both the Arkansas Opportunity Public School Choice Act and the Public School Choice Act of 2015

Parents, guardians, or students 18+ may request a transfer if they believe it is in the student's best interest, in addition to existing eligibility criteria based on school performance ratings (Level 5 support classification or "F" rating)

School districts must establish and publicly post policies allowing intra-district transfers, and must determine capacity for each school and grade level within the district

A school district may claim lack of capacity only if the nonresident school has reached maximum student-to-teacher ratios or 95% or more of seats at the relevant grade level are filled

Transfer applications must be submitted between January 1 and May 1, with districts required to respond by July 1; siblings of currently enrolled transfer students receive priority for acceptance