School Technology Legislation Updates for 2024-2025
A quick look at the requirements and deadlines regarding school technology for the upcoming school year.
Act 504 of 2023 requires cyber security plans for schools, and has a listed due date of October 1 of “each even numbered year.” This is a deadline for ADE, not schools. The Department of Education will release a Commissioner’s Memo with what is required of schools sometime after their plan is approved, but nothing is required of school administration teams at this time.
This law directs public school districts, public school district boards of directors, open-enrollment public charter schools, and others to create technology resource policies that define authorized use of technology resources (details outlined in Commissioner's Memo 24-038), and the cybersecurity policies for these resources. Cybersecurity policies should follow standards and guidelines set by the State Cyber Security Office and should include training programs for implementation.
Act 754 of 2023 requires each local education agency to ensure that all contracts that disclose student personally identifiable information to vendors include express provisions that safeguard the privacy/security of student personally identifiable information. Districts must also maintain a list of where student data is going so that this may be provided to guardians.
APSRC technology staff have created a quick round-up of all of the new technology related acts that might affect technology staff in K12 in Arkansas. Have questions about technology legislation? APSRC Director of Technology, Ben Janelle, or the APSRC Legal team can help.
