Arkansas § 6-18-221 - Cooperation of law enforcement agencies.

§ 6-18-221. Cooperation of law enforcement agencies.

Any public school district may enter into a cooperative agreement with local law enforcement officials to implement within the district an “Operation Stay in School Program”. Upon the request of the board of directors of the school district, the law enforcement agency shall stipulate, with the administration of the school district, specific days and hours when law enforcement officers will attempt to locate school-age students in the community who are off school premises during school hours without valid documentation excusing their absence. Any certified law enforcement officer may stop and detain any unsupervised school-age student located off school premises during school hours and request the production of documentation excusing the student's absence from school. Upon the student's failure to produce sufficient documentation, the law enforcement officer may take the student into custody and return the student to his or her school, transport the student to his or her parent, or transport the student to the truancy reception center, which shall not be a jail, juvenile detention center, or police department, and which has been designated by the school district. Any school district adopting this program shall include in its attendance policy a notice to parents and students that it has entered into a cooperative agreement with law enforcement officials to implement an Operation Stay in School Program, and unsupervised students found off school premises during school hours shall be subject to questioning by a law enforcement officer under the program. Any school district adopting this program shall include provisions for furnishing valid documentation for a student in work-study programs or other authorized absences from school premises in order to assist law enforcement officers in determining the validity of documentation excusing the student's absence from school during school hours.