Act 646 of the 2021 regular session amended Ark.
Code Ann. § 6-17-1901 and § 6-17-1902 and added § 6-17-1903. The law, as
amended, requires that all
public school districts and open enrollment charter schools create and post to its
website a three-year Teacher and Administrator Recruitment and Retention Plan
by August 1, 2022. The plan must be updated annually
and include all of the requirements set forth in § 6-17-1902(c), including
without limitation:
- The goals set by the school district or open-enrollment
public charter school for recruiting and retaining teachers and
administrators of minority races and ethnicities who increase diversity
among the district staff and, at a minimum, reflect the racial and ethnic
diversity of the district’s students;
- The steps the district or school has taken and will
take to meet its goals and the progress in meeting each of the goals; and
- The steps the school district or school will take to students
to pursue a career in education, with an emphasis on students of minority
races and ethnicities.
Prior to the
amendments listed above, the law required plans to be
applicable to the next
ten (10) years and include the requirements set forth in §
6-17-1901(d), prior to its amendment, including without limitation:
- The progress of the school district in recruiting
minority teachers and administrators;
- Developing an employee
composition that reflects racial and ethnic diversity; and
- The steps of the school district to encourage minority
students to pursue a career in education.
In order to be in compliance for the 2021-2022
school year, each school district
and charter school with more than 5% minority students must complete and submit electronically
the Minority Teacher and Administrator Recruitment signature page and either a
10-year plan matching the previous requirements or a 3 year plan matching the new requirements, no later
than October 15, 2021, to ade.equityassistance@ade.arkansas.gov .
School districts and charter schools with a
minority student composition of 5% or less must only submit the
signature page with the box marked stating that the district or charter school’s
minority student composition is 5% or less. However, we encourage schools with a minority student composition of 5%
or less to submit a draft plan that matches the new requirements to the EAC for
feedback and guidance.
Resources for schools:
Minority Teacher and Administrator Recruitment
Plan Video, “Keeping Up With the Kids: Increasing Minority Teacher and
Administrator Representation”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcLTGKUOCfg&list=PLj2vxyuu8hVBvwg4Hr30Mq7mv5ULHLKBJ&index=4
A planning tool created by the EAC to help
districts create their plan. Use of this tool is not required.
(current) 10 year plan tool: https://bit.ly/EAC-MTARP
(new) 3 year plan tool: https://bit.ly/EAC-TARRP