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Representative Ennett says HB1611 will help schools tap existing funds to address period poverty
Summary
HB1611 clarifies that schools can use existing funding streams (RMAC, Title I, State Foundation, McKinney-Vento) to provide menstrual products, after witnesses and sponsor said many schools currently rely on donations or teachers' out-of-pocket purchases.
Representative Denise Ennett told the committee she worked with the Arkansas Period Poverty Project and school officials to craft HB1611, which would make it clearer how schools can use existing public funds to provide menstrual products to students. "Period poverty refers to the lack of access to sanitary products," Ennett said, summarizing her outreach in districts including Little Rock and Pine Bluff.
Ennett said some districts already provide products but many rely on community donations or purchases by staff. "A principal in Hope said my students struggle with period poverty and several female staff members provide items for them out of their own pockets," she said. Committee members asked whether schools were already authorized to buy these products; Ennett and committee counsel responded that funding sources exist but are not universally known, and the bill aims to improve awareness and administrative clarity.
There was no registered opposition and the committee voted to pass the bill as amended. Sponsors and supporters said the measure is intended to be facilitative: it does not create a new, dedicated statewide entitlement but directs schools to use eligible funding streams to address student needs and reduce missed instructional time.
