Starting and running a small school in Arizona

What the statute requires

• The birth certificate clock is 30 days, then 10, then the police

  At first enrollment, notify the enrolling adult in writing that a certified birth certificate is due within 30 days. A photocopy goes in the pupil's file and the original is returned. If it is not produced, the school gives written notice that non-compliance within 10 days is referred to law enforcement. Separately, request a transfer pupil's record within 10 school days, and forward records within 10 school days when asked.

  A.R.S. § 15-828(A), (E), (G) · last read 20 July 2026

• Reporting abuse to a school resource officer does not satisfy the duty

  Section 13-3620(P) says so expressly. “School personnel, including substitute teachers” are named with no public/private limit, so private-school staff are covered by category. Report immediately, by phone or electronically, to DCS or a peace officer — the peace officer route only where the suspected abuser has no care, custody or control of the child. A supervisor carries an independent duty under (A)(6), excused only if they reasonably believe the report was already made, so a head of school who hears a concern owes their own report. Penalty is a class 1 misdemeanor, rising to a class 6 felony where the failure involves a reportable offense.

  Where this is unsettled: Subsection (A)(7) names district and charter board members, not private-school board members — a gap worth knowing about rather than relying on.

  A.R.S. § 13-3620(A), (D), (P), (Q) · last read 20 July 2026

What you file, and with whom

• The statute says November 30 and the rule says November 15 — and they genuinely conflict

  Section 15-874(D) reads: “By November 30 of each school year, each school district and private school shall complete and file a report with the local health department and the department of health services, using forms provided by the department of health services.” A.A.C. R9-6-707(A) sets November 15 for the report to the Department and expressly includes private schools. Treat the earlier date as controlling.

  Where this is unsettled: This is a real conflict between statute and administrative rule, not a research error. Both were read. Filing by 15 November satisfies both.

  A.R.S. § 15-874(D); A.A.C. R9-6-707(A) · last read 28 July 2026

What you have to keep

How this part is kept in Pearspark: attendance is a register per school year, immunizations are tracked against the list your state sets, enrollment and withdrawal dates sit on the student record, and each student's permanent records stay retrievable by the family and by a receiving school even if the school closes. How records work.

• The immunization record is statutorily part of the permanent student record

  Section 15-874(A) requires immunizations to be recorded on a standardized form developed by the Department of Health Services and provided by it, and says the record “shall be a part of the mandatory permanent student record.” Pupil name and birth date, admission date, immunizing agents, dose dates, schedule, lab evidence of immunity, and exemption information. A copy goes to the parent on request at no charge. Arizona sets no number of years — the designation as permanent is the retention rule.

  A.R.S. § 15-874(A) · last read 28 July 2026

School-choice program conditions

• An ESA family may not also file a homeschool affidavit

  Section 15-2402(B)(5) requires the parent to agree to “Not file an affidavit of intent to homeschool pursuant to section 15-802, subsection B, paragraph 2 or 3.” The signed ESA agreement itself constitutes school attendance. Families switching from homeschooling to an ESA routinely file both and create a problem for themselves.

  A.R.S. § 15-2402(B)(5) · last read 28 July 2026

• An ESA invoice missing one of five fields gets the family denied

  A.A.C. R7-2-1508(A) requires the qualified student's name, the private school's name, the transaction date, tuition or fee amounts, and the total charged — plus proof of method of payment where the family is claiming a reimbursement. The duty to submit is the parent's, not yours, but they can only submit what you give them: a missing field denies their reimbursement, and repeated deficiencies can remove them from the program. The Department's Parent Handbook additionally asks for the student's grade level (preschool and kindergarten only) and dates of service.

  Where this is unsettled: The rule is the legal floor; the handbook is program policy that can change without legislation. Meeting the handbook is the safer standard.

  A.A.C. R7-2-1508(A), (C)(2) · last read 20 July 2026

• Keep ESA records at least two fiscal years, because that is the audit reach

  The Department may audit account activity from the last two fiscal years including the current one, so your records have to outlive that window. This is narrower than Texas, whose ESA audit provision has no time limit at all — do not carry a Texas retention habit into Arizona or the reverse.

  A.A.C. R7-2-1508(C)(2); audits A.R.S. § 15-2403 · last read 20 July 2026

• Tax-credit scholarship schools need fingerprinting; ESA schools do not

  Section 43-1601(3) makes fingerprinting of all teaching staff and personnel with unsupervised student contact a condition of being a “qualified school” for the school tuition organization tax-credit program. The separate ESA “qualified school” definition carries no fingerprinting condition. Two Arizona programs, two different staff-screening answers.

  A.R.S. § 43-1601(3) · last read 20 July 2026