Ark. Code Ann. § 6-19-102 (2026)
Authority to transport students — Vehicles and operators
- The board of directors of each school district in the state is authorized to purchase vehicles and otherwise provide means for transporting pupils to and from school, when necessary.
- To this end it may hire or purchase such school buses or other vehicles and hire persons to operate them, or make such other arrangements as it may deem best, affording safe and convenient transportation to the pupils, and the board of directors may pay for all such property or services out of the funds of the district.
- Any contract with any member of the school district board of directors for the transportation of children or to drive a bus shall be null and void.
- A bus or other vehicle used in transporting pupils in one (1) district shall not be used to transport pupils in another district without the consent of the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education, except as specifically allowed by law.
- The buses shall be of such specifications as may be prescribed by uniform rules of the Commission for Arkansas Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation.
History. Acts 1931, No. 169, § 102; Pope's Dig., § 11545; A.S.A. 1947, § 80-1801; Acts 1999, No. 1078, § 75; 2009, No. 1473, § 5; 2013, No. 420, § 1; 2019, No. 910, § 1583.
Amendments. The 2009 amendment rewrote (e).
The 2013 amendment added “except as specifically allowed by law” at the end of (d).
The 2019 amendment substituted “Division of Elementary and Secondary Education” for “Department of Education” in (d).
Research References
Ark. L. Rev.
The Contractual and Quasi-Contractual Liability of Arkansas Local Government Units, 20 Ark. L. Rev. 292.
Case Notes
Contract with Member of Board.
The president of a school board contracting to transport pupils was not entitled to compensation therefor after the enactment of this section although the contract in question was entered into before the section became effective. Ridge v. Miller, 185 Ark. 461, 47 S.W.2d 587 (1932).
Passenger Seat Belts.
Exercising authority under Ark. Const. art. XIV, § 4, the General Assembly authorized the Department of Education to adopt regulations regarding school bus design pursuant to §§ 6-19-111(a)-(b), 6-21-304; the department's specifications, which did not mandate passenger seat belts, were required in every school bus contract in the state pursuant to § 6-19-102(e), assuring manufacturers' compliance. Legislative history touching on the issue revealed that the General Assembly considered but rejected mandatory passenger seat belts in school buses several times; consequently, tort claims, which were based on a school bus manufacturer's failure to provide passenger seat belts, were preempted because the manufacturer complied with state specifications governing school bus design, and the applicable statutory and regulatory framework, while silent on the issue, indicated that the General Assembly had affirmatively decided not to require passenger seat belts in school buses. Price v. Thomas Built Buses, 370 Ark. 405, 260 S.W.3d 300 (2007) (see now §§ 6-19-117, 6-19-130).
Transportation Outside District.
Former section did not authorize a contract for the transportation of the children of one district to the schools of another district or to use the school funds to pay tuition in the school of another district. Board of Dirs. v. Holdtorff, 171 Ark. 668, 285 S.W. 357 (1926) (decision under prior law).
Operation of school bus outside the boundary line of the school district was not authorized by law and decree enjoining operation but permitting bus to pick up and discharge children at the boundary line of the district was proper and did not discriminate against children transferred from an adjacent district. Brawley School Dist. No. 38 v. Kight, 206 Ark. 87, 173 S.W.2d 125 (1943).
Cited: King v. Little Rock Sch. Dist., 301 Ark. 148, 782 S.W.2d 574 (1990).