Can an Arkansas school district stop a student athlete from playing varsity sports just because the student transferred between schools within the same district?
Plain-English summary
State Senator Alan Clark asked whether Act 768 of 2023, which protects students from athletic-eligibility discrimination when they transfer schools, applies to intradistrict transfers (one public school to another inside the same district), or only to interdistrict transfers (across district lines). The Fort Smith School District had a policy barring grades 7-12 transfer students from athletics within the district, while conceding that the policy could not lawfully apply across district lines.
Attorney General Tim Griffin concluded the policy is inconsistent with state law. Act 768, codified at A.C.A. §§ 6-18-227(m)(1) and 6-18-1904(f)(1), uses the phrase "another public school or a nonresident school district." Reading "another public school" to mean only schools outside the home district would render the phrase meaningless. The two terms must do separate work: "another public school" reaches transfers within the home district, and "a nonresident school district" reaches transfers across district lines. Both are protected.
The opinion notes Act 768 does not include a process for restoring eligibility after a violation. Even so, a school continuing to deny athletic eligibility to an intradistrict transfer student would be acting illegally.
What this means for you
If you are a parent of a student athlete who transferred within an Arkansas district
Based on this opinion, your school district cannot bar your child from athletics solely because of an intradistrict transfer. Show this opinion and Act 768 to the athletic director and the building principal. If they still refuse, escalate to the superintendent and the school board. If the issue persists, talk to a school-law attorney about a state-court challenge or a complaint to the Arkansas Activities Association (the state athletic governing body).
If you are a school district administrator, athletic director, or school board member
Audit your eligibility policies. If you have a rule that bars or sits transfer students within the district from playing varsity sports for a season, that rule is inconsistent with state law as the AG reads it. Update the policy to allow continuous eligibility through any transfer between public schools, period.
You may still impose the same general rules that apply to all students: residency in the district, academic eligibility, and Arkansas Activities Association rules of general application that do not target transfer students. What you cannot do is condition eligibility on whether the student moved between buildings inside your district.
If you are a school choice advocate
This opinion strengthens Act 768's reach. The legislature in 2023 wanted to remove athletic-eligibility penalties as a friction point in transfer decisions, and the AG read the language consistent with that purpose. Citing this opinion makes the case in any district resisting the law.
If you are a sports law or education attorney
Build the case from the canon of construction the AG used: every word of a statute is presumed to do work. Section 6-18-227(m)(1) lists "another public school or a nonresident school district" disjunctively, and treating "another public school" as redundant of "nonresident school district" violates the rule against surplusage. The AG also relied on dictionary definitions of "another" (American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed. 2011) and Black's Law Dictionary's definition of "public school," plus the Arkansas Supreme Court's Gafford v. Allstate Insurance surplusage rule.
Common questions
Q: My kid transferred from one Fort Smith high school to another mid-year. Can the district bench them?
A: Not under this opinion. Act 768 protects intradistrict transfers the same as interdistrict transfers. The district cannot deny athletic eligibility based on the transfer alone.
Q: What if there are other reasons (academic, disciplinary, residency)?
A: Those rules can apply across the board. What this opinion blocks is any rule that singles out transfer students for harsher athletic treatment.
Q: Does this rule apply to seventh and eighth graders, or only high schoolers?
A: The Fort Smith policy in question applied to grades 7-12. Act 768's text covers all public-school students who transfer; the AG did not draw a grade-specific line.
Q: What if the school refuses to comply?
A: The AG noted Act 768 does not specify a remedy. Your options would include going to the school board, the Department of Education, the Arkansas Activities Association, or state court for an injunction. Talk to an education-law attorney.
Q: Can private schools or charter schools enforce sit-out rules for transfers?
A: This opinion is about Act 768, which addresses public schools and nonresident school districts. Private and charter schools have their own rules and may be subject to different laws and the Arkansas Activities Association's bylaws.
Q: What if a school changes its transfer-policy and applies it retroactively?
A: A retroactive penalty for a transfer that already occurred would be especially vulnerable. Talk to counsel.
Background and statutory framework
Act 768 of 2023 amended Arkansas school-transfer law to broaden protection for student athletes. The two key provisions are:
- A.C.A. § 6-18-227(m)(1): addresses athletic eligibility for transfer students, prohibiting discrimination against students "who transfer[] to another public school or a nonresident school district."
- A.C.A. § 6-18-1904(f)(1): parallel provision in the school choice statute with the same protective language.
The AG's reasoning is grounded in basic statutory canons:
- "Different words have different meanings." If "another public school" meant only schools outside the home district, the phrase "or a nonresident school district" would add nothing.
- Gafford v. Allstate Insurance Co., 2015 Ark. 110, applies the rule against surplusage.
- The American Heritage Dictionary defines "another" to include "distinctly different from the first," which encompasses other public schools whether or not they are in the same district.
- Black's Law Dictionary and A.C.A. §§ 6-23-103 and 6-18-1302 define "public school" as a school operated by a school district. Both intradistrict and interdistrict transfer destinations fit.
The Fort Smith School District's policy, which barred athletics for any student transferring between schools "within the district" in grades 7-12, was inconsistent with this reading of Act 768.
Citations and references
Statutes:
- Act 768 of 2023 (transfer student protections)
- A.C.A. § 6-18-227(m)(1) (athletic eligibility for transfer students)
- A.C.A. § 6-18-1904(f)(1) (school choice transfer protections)
- A.C.A. § 6-23-103 (definition of public school)
- A.C.A. § 6-18-1302 (definition of public school)
Cases:
- Gafford v. Allstate Insurance Co., 2015 Ark. 110, 459 S.W.3d 277 (statutory surplusage rule)
Source
Original opinion text
Opinion No. 2024-066
July 18, 2024
The Honorable Alan Clark
State Senator
Post Office Box 211
Londsdale, Arkansas 72087
Dear Senator Clark:
You indicate that the Fort Smith School District has a policy that prohibits students from playing athletics if they are entering seventh through twelfth grades and transferring from one public school to another within the district. You indicate that while the district concedes that a similar policy that applies to interdistrict transfers would conflict with Act 768 of 2023, the district "contends that Act 768 does not apply to intradistrict transfers." You ask whether Act 768 applies to both types of transfers.
RESPONSE
Act 768 applies equally to interdistrict and intradistrict transfers. Its prohibitions on discriminating against transfer students protect students "who transfer[] to another public school or a nonresident school district." Thus, if a student transfers from one public school "to another public school," even within the same district, Act 768's protections apply.
There is no textual basis in the statute to limit "another public school" to only public schools in nonresident districts. Just the opposite. "Another public school" is used as a counter to "a nonresident school district." To give both terms meaning, the phrase "another public school" must reach more broadly than to only public schools within a "nonresident school district."
Although Act 768 does not establish a process for students to restore their interscholastic athletic eligibility when a school violates the Act, a school continuing to deny a transfer student athletic eligibility would be acting illegally.
Assistant Attorney General William R. Olson prepared this opinion, which I hereby approve.
Sincerely,
TIM GRIFFIN
Attorney General