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HB4107 • 2026

school open enrollment; tribal students

HB4107 - school open enrollment; tribal students

Education
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Brian Garcia
Last action
2026-02-11
Official status
House second read
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary text does not provide details on how schools will handle the enrollment of these students or if there are funding implications for accepting more tribal area students.

School Open Enrollment for Tribal Students

This bill amends Arizona's school open enrollment policy to allow students living on tribal land to enroll in the three closest public schools outside their reservation.

What This Bill Does

  • Amends the definition of 'resident transfer pupil' to include students who live on tribal lands and are not within any specific school district boundaries.
  • Allows these tribal students to apply for enrollment at the nearest three public schools, based on distance from their home.
  • Defines 'tribal land' as areas owned or controlled by federally recognized Native American tribes.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Students living on tribal lands in Arizona
  • School districts near tribal reservations

Terms To Know

Nonresident pupil
A student who resides in this state and is enrolled in or seeking enrollment in a school district other than the one where they live.
Resident transfer pupil
A student who lives on tribal land outside of any specific school district boundaries and seeks to enroll in a school within one of the three closest school districts based on distance from their home.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify how schools will handle the enrollment of these students.
  • It is unclear if this change will affect funding for schools that accept more students from tribal areas.

Bill History

  1. 2026-02-11 House

    House second read

  2. 2026-02-10 House

    House Rules: None

  3. 2026-02-10 House

    House Education: None

  4. 2026-02-10 House

    House first read

Official Summary Text

HB4107 - school open enrollment; tribal students

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
HB4107 - 572R - I Ver

REFERENCE TITLE:
school open enrollment; tribal students

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

HB 4107

Introduced by

Representative
Garcia

AN
ACT

amending section 15-816, Arizona
Revised Statutes; relating to school open enrollment.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 15-816, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
15-816.

Definitions

In this article, unless the context otherwise requires:

1. "Nonresident pupil" means a pupil who
resides in this state and who is enrolled in or is seeking enrollment in a
school district other than the school district in which the pupil resides.

2. "Open enrollment" means a policy that
is adopted and implemented by a school district governing board to allow
resident transfer pupils to enroll in any school within the school district, to
allow resident pupils to enroll in any school located within other school
districts in this state and to allow nonresident pupils to enroll in any school
within the district pursuant to section 15-816.01.

3. "Resident pupil" means a pupil whose
residence is within the attendance area of a school.

4. "Resident school" means a school that
is within the designated attendance area in which a pupil resides.

5. "Resident transfer pupil" means
either:

(
a
)
A
resident pupil who is enrolled in or seeking enrollment in a school that is
within the school district but outside the attendance area of the pupil's
residence.

(
b
) A pupil
whose residence is located on tribal land
and outside of
the boundaries of any school district

and who is Enrolled in or seeking enrollment in a school that is
within one of the three closest school districts to the pupil's residence.� For
the purposes of this subdivision, the closest school districts are determined
by calculating the shortest distance from the pupil's residence to the
boundaries of each school district.

6. "Tribal land" means
lands owned or held by a federally recognized Indian tribe, nation, band or
community as reservation lands, allotment lands or sovereign or proprietary
lands or in any other capacity.

END_STATUTE