---
type: "Bill"
title: "TO AMEND THE SCHOOL START DATE; TO ALLOW PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARDS OF DIRECTORS TO ELECT TO IMPLEMENT AN ALTERNATE SCHOOL CALENDAR; AND TO AMEND THE DEFINITION OF A SCHOOL DAY."
description: "TO AMEND THE SCHOOL START DATE; TO ALLOW PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARDS OF DIRECTORS TO ELECT TO IMPLEMENT AN ALTERNATE SCHOOL CALENDAR; AND TO AMEND THE DEFINITION OF A SCHOOL DAY."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ar"
legislature: "Arkansas Legislature"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 1237"
citation: "Arkansas HB 1237 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Irvin", "Lowery"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 25
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2021-01-25T17:59:45+00:00"
last_action: "2021-04-13T16:22:21+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/698e6b92-7a8c-478f-b330-f4b2ad4a6184"
source_url: "ftp://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/SessionInformation/LegislativeMeasures.txt"
source_hash: "4d0d9a95000114182d56b69b2dcbe7468eb57dce3818201daf531f62eea66980"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ar"]
---

# Arkansas HB 1237 (2021) — TO AMEND THE SCHOOL START DATE; TO ALLOW PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARDS OF DIRECTORS TO ELECT TO IMPLEMENT AN ALTERNATE SCHOOL CALENDAR; AND TO AMEND THE DEFINITION OF A SCHOOL DAY.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Amendment H1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Bills/FTPDocument?path=%2FAMEND%2F2021R%2FPublic%2FHB1237-H1.pdf)
2. **Amendment H2** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Bills/FTPDocument?path=%2FAMEND%2F2021R%2FPublic%2FHB1237-H2.pdf)
3. **Amendment S1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Bills/FTPDocument?path=%2FAMEND%2F2021R%2FPublic%2FHB1237-S1.pdf)
4. **HB 1237** (committee substitute) — [source](ftp://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Bills/2021R/Public/Searchable/HB1237.pdf)

## Votes

- Senate amendment # 1 read and concurred in. — **84–0** (pass) · lower
- Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate. — **64–23** (pass) · lower
- Read the third time and passed. — **32–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Irvin — primary (person)
- Lowery — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-01-25T17:59:45+00:00** Filed `introduction`
- **2021-01-25T19:41:36+00:00** Read the first time, rules suspended, read the second time and referred to the Committee on EDUCATION COMMITTEE- HOUSE `reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2021-02-23T14:23:43+00:00** Placed on second reading for the purpose of amendment.
- **2021-02-23T14:23:47+00:00** Amendment No. 1 read and adopted and the bill ordered engrossed. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage`
- **2021-02-23T16:30:53+00:00** REPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED
- **2021-03-15T13:36:47+00:00** Placed on second reading for the purpose of amendment.
- **2021-03-15T13:36:50+00:00** Amendment No. 2 read and adopted and the bill ordered engrossed. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage`
- **2021-03-15T16:48:25+00:00** REPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED
- **2021-03-18T18:09:13+00:00** Returned by the Committee Do Pass `committee-passage`
- **2021-03-29T18:25:42+00:00** Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate. `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-03-29T22:50:49+00:00** Received from the House.
- **2021-03-29T22:51:14+00:00** Read first time, rules suspended, read second time, referred to EDUCATION COMMITTEE - SENATE `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2021-04-05T22:59:09+00:00** Returned by the Committee, with the recommendation that it Do Pass `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-04-07T20:00:05+00:00** Rules suspended.
- **2021-04-07T20:00:10+00:00** Placed on second reading for purpose of amendment.
- **2021-04-07T20:00:31+00:00** Amendment # 1 read the first time, rules suspended, read the second time and adopted, ordered engrossed.
- **2021-04-07T20:34:21+00:00** REPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED
- **2021-04-07T20:35:14+00:00** Rules suspended.
- **2021-04-07T20:35:36+00:00** Read the third time and passed. `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-04-07T20:35:37+00:00** Returned To the House as passed as amended.
- **2021-04-07T22:06:30+00:00** Returned From Senate as passed, as amended # 3
- **2021-04-08T18:15:54+00:00** Senate amendment # 1 read and concurred in.
- **2021-04-08T18:15:56+00:00** TO BE ENROLLED
- **2021-04-09T13:32:54+00:00** Correctly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's Office.
- **2021-04-13T16:22:21+00:00** Notification that HB1237 is now Act 688 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/698e6b92-7a8c-478f-b330-f4b2ad4a6184`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Arkansas legislature records).