Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson announced today that schools in Arkansas will not begin classes for the 2020-2021 school year on the originally intended date, August 13, 2020. Instead the date has been moved forward to the week of August 24, 2020 but no later than August 26, 2020. Stating that the reason moving forward 10-14 days is to give school districts more time to make the necessary adjustments; making sure campuses are ready and teachers are prepared for the blended learning environment that we are going to have throughout this year.

Hutchinson said, "We are fully committed to school and we're committed to on-site instruction."

A plan is in place to assist school districts in dealing with positive COVID-19 cases within schools.