Homeschooling in Arkansas? Here’s your plan.

Under A.C.A. 6-15-501 et seq. and the state's home school rules (6 CAR pt. 33), your main legal obligation is an annual notice of intent filed with the superintendent of your resident school district. In it, you agree that you are responsible for your child's education while you homeschool. The notice includes each child's name, sex, date of birth, and grade level, the school last attended, your mailing address and phone number, your name, whether your child plans to take part in public school interscholastic activities or seek a high school equivalency diploma, and your signature (6 CAR § 33-104(f)).

You can file through the state's online system at noihs.ade.arkansas.gov, or send a written notice to the superintendent by email, mail, fax, or in person (6 CAR § 33-104(c)). The notice is due by August 15. If you start during the school year, file it five school days before withdrawing your child; the superintendent or school board may waive that waiting period. Families who move into a district during the school year file within 30 calendar days of establishing residency.

Filing the notice does not withdraw your child from public school. After the five-day waiting period, contact the school directly to withdraw your child.

Arkansas also runs the Education Freedom Account (EFA) program, and homeschool families can take part. Students who participate are required to take a standardized test. For program details, contact the Education Freedom Account office at the Arkansas Department of Education.

Arkansas families file the annual notice of intent under A.C.A. 6-15-501 et seq. Some curriculum suppliers call themselves a "private school" or "umbrella school" and say families who enroll with them do not need to file a notice of intent. The Arkansas Department of Education says this is false. A home school is one a parent provides for their own child, so if you teach at home, you still file the notice of intent each year, even if you also enroll with an umbrella school or buy its curriculum. The other rules are the same too: no required subjects, hours, or records.

File your notice every year. The notice of intent is filed at the beginning of each school year, by August 15. A notice filed during the year covers the rest of that school year (6 CAR § 33-104(d)).

No testing unless you use the EFA. Homeschooled students who do not take part in the EFA program are not required to take standardized tests. EFA participants are.

Interscholastic activities. The principal of your resident school must let a homeschooled student pursue an interscholastic activity if you give notice before the school's signup or tryout deadlines and show a score of at least the thirtieth percentile on a nationally recognized norm-referenced test from the previous 12 months, or a minimum score on a test approved by the State Board (6 CAR § 33-108). A student who withdraws from an Arkansas Activities Association member school to homeschool cannot participate in the resident district for at least 365 days.

Public school academic courses. Each district must adopt a policy that lets a homeschooled student who lives in the district enroll in academic courses at a public school, though the policy may limit enrollment (6 CAR § 33-106).

High school diplomas. The Arkansas Department of Education does not issue diplomas or transcripts to homeschooled students, and homeschoolers have no state-mandated graduation requirements. You create the transcript and award the diploma.

Special education. Students with disabilities in home school settings get the same consideration for special education services that IDEA gives students in private school settings (6 CAR § 33-107).

Keep records in case of re-enrollment. If your child enrolls in public school later, they submit a transcript and a portfolio of academic progress, which the school may waive (6 CAR § 33-105).