CRSD SCHOOL CHOICE 2025-2026
The Cossatot River School District is accepting school choice applications beginning January 1 - May 1, 2025.
Application Process: Arkansas 6-18-1901 (Application for School Choice Transfer)
In accordance with Act 490 of 2021 (codified at Ark. Code Ann. § 6-18-1905(a)), the window period for applicant filing and school districts accepting school choice applications for the 2025-2026 school year begins on January 1, 2025, and runs through May 1, 2025. Each school district must have a policy stating the methods by which an application may be submitted to the school district, but in no event may the district require that an application be submitted in person.
Applicants must submit school choice applications to the nonresident district and the student's resident district. The application must be delivered or postmarked no later than May 1 of the calendar year in which the student seeks to begin the fall semester at the nonresident district. However, if a student has a parent or guardian who is an active-duty member of the military who has been transferred to and resides on a military base, and who provides military transfer orders and documentation that confirms the date of transfer to and residence on the military base, then the student's application for a transfer is not subject to the May 1 deadline. Instead, the applicant must file an application for a transfer within fifteen (15) days of the parent or guardian's arrival on the military base and must include the above documents.
Upon receipt of a school choice application, both the resident district and nonresident district shall place a date and time stamp on the application that reflects the date and time each district received the application. The nonresident district shall review and make a determination on each application in the order in which the application was received by the nonresident district.
By July 1: The superintendent of the nonresident district shall notify each applicant and the applicant's resident district in writing as to whether the application has been accepted or rejected. A nonresident district shall not deny a student the ability to transfer under this option unless there is a lack of capacity at the nonresident school. Lack of capacity is defined in Ark. Code Ann. § 6-18-227(d)(2)(A)(ii) when a “school district has reached the maximum student-to-teacher ratio allowed under federal law, state law, the rules for standards of accreditation, state rules, or other applicable federal regulations.”
A link to the current school choice form and FAQs, as well as the Division's Rules Governing Public School Choice, can be found at https://dese.ade.arkansas.gov/Offices/office-of-school-choice-and-parent-empowerment/school-choice. The new application and rules are both attached as well.
For questions regarding school choice, please contact Hanna Burk at 1-870-385-7101 Ext. 1101.