The Arkansas Code Revision Commission agreed to codify provisions from two separate acts that both address Purple Star Schools and Purple Star recognition, leaving it to the Department of Education to reconcile differences through rulemaking.

Staff noted Acts 341 and 501 each create or reference Purple Star recognition programs in different ways. Daniel Schultz, counsel for the Department of Education, said an initial statutory reading suggested the two acts could be read together but that subject‑matter experts later raised concerns about potential conflicts. Schultz told commissioners that the mandatory provision passed later in time would control if both could be read as addressing the same requirement.

Don Berry, speaking for the Military Officers Association on behalf of Representative Carolyn Brown (who had raised concerns), explained both acts establish recognition programs with different emphases: one was permissive for districts or charter schools to seek designation; the later act included a mandatory recognition trigger for schools with a threshold number of military‑connected students. Berry and DESE counsel said rulemaking and implementation by the Arkansas Council for Military Children and DESE could reconcile the programs in practice.

Commission members asked staff to codify both acts in their respective places in the code. No motion to strike or reconcile the statutes at the codification level was made; commissioners observed that the rulemaking process and agency guidance could address overlap.