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HB 1806

Appropriation; provide funding for public defender and assistants in the 7th Circuit Court District and the CCID.

2025 Regular Session

Would have required DESE to build a statewide online portal to review textbooks and library materials, letting parents opt their child out; funded if available.

Died In Committee
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Bill Summary · HB 1806

Summary — HB 1806 (Arkansas, 95th General Assembly, 2025 session)

Status: Died in Committee (Senate) — introduced 01/09/2025; passed House 04/10/2025; died in Senate committee at sine die adjournment 05/05/2025.

Note: The legislative package provided contains text from an unrelated Illinois bill also numbered HB1806. This summary focuses on the Arkansas bill introduced by Rep. Vaught (Sen. J. Dotson, co-sponsor), which would have required a statewide curriculum portal and opt‑out for certain library materials.

Main purpose

To increase curriculum transparency by requiring the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to create and maintain a centralized, searchable online portal where parents, school faculty, and staff can review instructional materials (including textbooks and library media) used in Arkansas K–12 public schools — and to allow parents to opt their child out of selected library media materials.

Key provisions

  • Amends Arkansas Code § 6-16-103 to require DESE to establish and maintain a statewide, centralized online portal (if funding is available).
  • Portal capabilities required:
    • Provide summaries of the content of each textbook used.
    • Allow users to search and view full content of each textbook and other instructional materials.
    • Allow searching and viewing of library media materials by district, school, and grade level.
    • Enable parents to review a school’s library media materials and opt out their child from particular library media materials.
    • Provide a single repository for Arkansas school standards and instructional materials to reduce ambiguity and employee workload.
    • Allow school administrators to maintain and automatically update school policies and materials in response to changing rules and requirements.
  • Definitions included: “instructional material,” “library media material,” “district,” “parent,” and “school.”
  • Implementation deadline (as drafted): DESE to provide the portal no later than January 15, 2026 — expressly conditioned “if funding is available.”
  • An adopted amendment explicitly inserted the “if funding is available” condition.

Who would be affected

  • Primary: Parents (including legal guardians), K–12 students, school administrators, faculty and staff across Arkansas public school districts.
  • Administrative: Division of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) — responsible for development, hosting, and maintenance of the portal.
  • Fiscal impact stakeholders: State education budget and possibly districts if additional integration or data preparation is required.

Fiscal impact

  • Arkansas Department of Education estimate: $1,000,000 – $2,500,000 (one-time or initial implementation estimate).
    • Basis: estimated cost to add a parent-facing module of $2–$5 per student/parent combination applied to ~500,000 students (500,000 × $2–$5 = $1M–$2.5M).
  • The bill conditions portal delivery on availability of funding.

Legislative/procedural notes and timeline

  • Introduced by Rep. Vaught; Senator J. Dotson listed as co-sponsor.
  • Passed the House (3rd reading 04/10/2025) and transmitted to the Senate; referred to Senate Education Committee.
  • Amendment No. 1 and other internal amendments clarified funding condition and certain definitions.
  • Ultimately died in the Senate committee at sine die adjournment (05/05/2025) and did not become law.
  • Related or companion measures listed: SB 33 and SB 730 (per documents).

If you want, I can:
- Produce a one‑page handout for district superintendents or parents explaining how the portal would have changed access and opt‑out procedures, or
- Compare this bill to similar curriculum‑transparency laws in other states.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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