Bill
HB 1689
Requires Arkansas public schools, career/tech centers, and higher education to give official military recruiters access to students and facilities to share opportunities.
Status: Introduced December 20, 2024. (User-provided status: Died in Committee.)
Purpose
- To require public high schools, state-supported career/precollege/technical academies, and state-supported institutions of higher education in Arkansas to permit official military recruiters access to school facilities and students so they may inform students about educational and career opportunities in the military.
Key provisions
- Amends Arkansas Code § 6-13-626 (public high schools):
- If a school district permits access to any person or group to make students aware of occupational/educational options, the district must permit official military recruiting representatives the same access within each high school.
- If a public high school denies access to prospective employers or educational institutions, it must still allow limited military recruiter access to meet with students in grades 10–12 in person during normal school hours and at public events outside normal hours.
- Military recruiters may engage with all students (grades 10–12) regardless of academic standing, class enrollment, career plans, or extracurricular participation.
- Schools must provide equal opportunity for in-person presentations by military recruiters to students in grades 10–12 and may not impose restrictions (events, locations, time periods) on military recruiters that do not also apply to other prospective employers/educational recruiters.
- Recruiters are permitted to distribute/collect information, administer surveys, and receive student contact details under the same conditions as other recruiters; schools may not impose additional privacy or parental-consent barriers for military recruiters beyond those imposed on other recruiters.
- Each public high school must inform students in grades 10–12 (electronically and via advisory/homeroom) about opportunities for direct military recruiter engagement.
Adds Arkansas Code § 6-50-107:
Adds Arkansas Code § 6-61-144:
Definitions:
Compliance and reporting
- The Secretary of the Department of the Military must collect information from Arkansas National Guard recruiters on district compliance and submit an annual compliance report to the Secretary of the Department of Education identifying districts found in violation and explaining the basis for those findings.
Fiscal impact
- Fiscal Impact Statement (Arkansas Dept. of Education): No fiscal impact reported.
Who would be affected
- Public high schools and school districts in Arkansas, state-supported career and technical centers, state-supported colleges/universities, military recruiters (state and federal), students in grades 10–12, and school administrators responsible for visitor/recruiter policies.
Potential implications
- Increases guaranteed access for military recruiters comparable to other prospective employers/educational institutions, limits schools’ ability to impose unique privacy/consent barriers on military recruiters, and establishes a state monitoring/reporting mechanism for compliance. Schools may need to update policies and notification practices to meet the new requirements if enacted.
Note
- The provided document contained multiple metadata and action entries that appear to reference other bills/jurisdictions. This summary focuses on the Arkansas statutory text titled HB 1689 (access of military recruiters to school and postsecondary facilities).
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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