Homeschooling in Arkansas
What the law requires, what you file and when, and what to keep — with the statute behind each rule.
What Arkansas requires
- Notify
- Resident school district superintendent (filed through the Arkansas Department of Education online Notice of Intent system or on a paper form given to the district) — By August 15 each year (filing opens June 1). Mid-year: before withdrawing from public school, with a 5-school-day waiting period that can be waived. Families moving into a district mid-year file within 30 days of establishing residency. (annual)
- Testing or evaluation
- Not required.
- Subjects set by the state
- No subject list.
- Teaching time
- None
- Compulsory school age
- 5 to 17 — in detail
- Records
- Not required to report, but keep proof the notice was filed.
Taking your child out of school in Arkansas
First move: File the notice of intent (online or with the district).
If filed after August 15 for a child currently in public school, the child must keep attending for 5 school days before withdrawal unless the superintendent or school board waives the wait (there is a waiver checkbox on the online form). Return or pay for any borrowed school property.
A student under school disciplinary action generally cannot start homeschooling until it is resolved. Per DESE (memo COM-25-076), a student may also be ineligible to begin homeschooling while there is an open FINS/truancy case, a registered sex offender lives in the home, or school property has not been returned.
The legal routes
2 routes exist in Arkansas. They carry different duties, and families often do not know the alternatives to the obvious one.
- Home school (Ark. Code §§ 6-15-501 to 6-15-509)
- Parent files an annual notice of intent with the resident school district (online through the state portal or on paper). No testing, subjects or teacher qualifications are required.
- Private or parochial school
- Enroll in a private or church school, which is exempt from compulsory public school attendance.
The notice, and who receives it
- Goes to
- Resident school district superintendent (filed through the Arkansas Department of Education online Notice of Intent system or on a paper form given to the district)
- Deadline
- By August 15 each year (filing opens June 1). Mid-year: before withdrawing from public school, with a 5-school-day waiting period that can be waived. Families moving into a district mid-year file within 30 days of establishing residency.
- Renews
- annual
- Form
- Notice of Intent to Home School (2026-2027) — official form
Compulsory school age
5 to 17 (age as of August 1); kindergarten may be waived for one year with a state waiver form if the child is not 6 by August 1
Teaching time
Arkansas sets no required number of teaching hours or days, so what counts as a full year is yours to define. The courses here are planned as a 36-week year of about 180 sessions, which is the ordinary shape of one.
Who may teach
Arkansas sets no qualification for the parent teaching at home: no teaching certificate, no college degree, and no requirement that you hold a high school diploma.
Testing and evaluation
No state testing for homeschoolers. Families using an Education Freedom Account must take a standardized test.
Optional state-funded PSAT (grade 10), ACT (grade 11) and ATLAS (grades 3-10) can be requested on the notice form.
Records to keep
Not required to report, but keep proof the notice was filed. A child returning to public school must provide a transcript of courses and semester grades and a portfolio of academic progress for placement.
High school, diplomas and transcripts
Parent issues the diploma and transcript; the state sets no graduation requirements and does not issue homeschool diplomas. A notarized notice is no longer needed for a driver's permit/license (2019 change).
Public school classes, sports and activities
Sports and activities: homeschoolers may try out at their resident district (or a nonresident district by agreement) if they give written notice before school deadlines, score at or above the 30th percentile on a nationally norm-referenced test within the past 12 months, and enroll in at least one period/zero-hour activity; a student who leaves an Arkansas Activities Association school for homeschool waits 365 days. Districts may let homeschoolers take individual academic courses under local policy.
Funding: education savings accounts, vouchers and tax credits
Education Freedom Accounts (LEARNS Act): universal for K-12 since 2025-26; up to $7,208 per student for 2026-27 ($6,864 in 2025-26); homeschool families may participate but must take a standardized test.
What changed recently
2023 LEARNS Act created Education Freedom Accounts, universal from 2025-26 (up to $7,208 for 2026-27; homeschool users must test). June 2025: state moved to an online notice-of-intent system with a checkbox to request waiver of the 5-day wait; paper forms now stay with the district.
ATLAS state test offered optionally to homeschoolers from 2025-26.
What we could not confirm
Did not read the statute text of Ark. Code § 6-15-503 or § 6-18-201 directly (relied on state rules, state forms/FAQ and HSLDA).
Exact EFA testing rule and amount specific to homeschool participants not confirmed from the statute.
Listed because a legal summary that hides its gaps is harder to trust than one that names them. How these pages are checked.
Statutes and sources
Statute and regulation
- Ark. Code Ann. §§ 6-15-501 to 6-15-509
- Ark. Code Ann. § 6-15-503
- Ark. Code Ann. § 6-15-509
- Ark. Code Ann. § 6-18-201
- 6 CAR Part 33 (Home Schools rules)
- Act 237 of 2023 (LEARNS Act)
State agency
- Arkansas DESE - Notice of Intent (Home Schools)
- Arkansas DESE - 2026-2027 Notice of Intent to Home School form
- Arkansas DESE - FAQ for Home School Parents (May 2026)
- Arkansas DESE - Home Schools rules, 6 CAR Part 33
- Arkansas DESE memo COM-25-076 - Homeschool updates (June 2025)