End School Corporal Punishment

Map › Arizona

Arizona

Legal in public schools

Districts set their own rules; 72 students in 2021-22, 202 in 2023-24. A ban bill has been filed every year since 2023 and never received a hearing.

The law

A.R.S. § 15-843(B)(2) (boards prescribe 'procedures for using corporal punishment if allowed by the governing board') text

Private schools are not covered.

No statutory limits: no consent requirement, no disability exemption, no witness or record rules.

Bills

  • SB1594 (2026), Sen. Lela Alston (D): Prohibit corporal punishment by any district or charter employee; second read Feb 4, 2026, no further action failed record
  • SB1478 (2025), Sens. Alston, Burch, Epstein, Kuby (D): Prohibit corporal punishment; died without a hearing failed record
  • SB1379 (2024), Sen. Lela Alston (D) + 12: Prohibit corporal punishment; died without a hearing failed record
  • HB2071 (2023), Rep. Laura Terech (D) + 14: Prohibit corporal punishment; died without a hearing failed record

Sources: 1 2 · verified 2026-09-09

Students struck

YearStudentsBlackBoysWith disabilitiesPer 1,000
2017-1871
2021-227284660.06
2023-2420240139380.18

US Department of Education Civil Rights Data Collection. Students, not incidents; 2023-24 computed by this project from the raw file.

Counties

Arizona has 682 school districts in 15 counties. Each district is drawn in the colour of its own policy; hover one for its name and rule, click to jump to its row. Counties show through where no district is recorded yet.
Mohave Santa Cruz Coconino La Paz Gila Pima Greenlee Pinal Navajo Yuma Maricopa Graham Cochise Apache Yavapai
Mixed: some districts here prohibit it, some permit it (1)A district's policy allows it (1)Every sourced district prohibits it (7)No district recorded yet: state law applies (6)

The map is counties, and most counties hold several districts: green when every recorded district prohibits it, striped when some prohibit and some permit, red when a district permits it. The table below is district by district. Counties take the state's status unless a recorded district differs. Boundaries: US Census Bureau (public domain). District policies with a source link are verified; the rest were carried over from the original map and are being re-checked.

Districts

22 of 682 Arizona districts listed; 21 checked against the district's own policy. The rest are marked not checked: the pre-2026 map carried a status for them with no source, and the first ones re-checked in 2026 were wrong more often than not, so those values are shown only as a note and are not used to colour the map. Help check this state.

"Struck 2023-24" is the district's own figure from its own Civil Rights Data Collection filing, joined by federal district id. A blank means the district is not among the 832 the collection names, which can mean it reported none or that it reported nothing at all — the public-use file does not distinguish the two, so no claim is made either way.

DistrictCountyPaddlingStruck 2023-24PhonesAIHS startSourceVerified
Avondale Elementary DistrictMaricopaProhibitsJKA via crew2026-10-04
Bisbee Unified School DistrictCochiseProhibitsJKA via crew2026-10-04
Chandler Unified School DistrictMaricopaProhibitsJKA via crew2026-10-04
Colorado River Union High School DistrictMohaveProhibits5-306 via crew2026-10-04
Douglas Unified School DistrictCochiseProhibitsJKA via crew2026-10-04
Florence Unified School DistrictPinalProhibitsJKA via crew2026-10-04
Gilbert Public SchoolsMaricopaProhibitsJKA via crew2026-10-04
Harvest Power Community Development Group Inc. (79501)YumaAllowspolicy via crew2026-10-04
Kingman Unified School DistrictMohaveProhibitsJKA via crew2026-10-04
Maine Consolidated School DistrictCoconinoProhibitsJKA via crew2026-10-04
Maricopa Unified School DistrictPinalProhibits5-306 via crew2026-10-04
Mesa Public SchoolsMaricopaProhibits5-306 via crew2026-10-04
Parker Unified School DistrictLa PazAllowsJKA via crew2026-10-04
Phoenix Union High School DistrictMaricopaProhibitsJKA via crew2026-10-04
Santa Cruz Valley Unified School DistrictSanta CruzProhibitsJKA via crew2026-10-04
Santa Cruz Valley Union High School DistrictPinalProhibitsJKA via crew2026-10-04
Tempe Union High School DistrictMaricopaProhibitsJKA via crew2026-10-04
The Paideia Academies Inc (91250)PhoenixNot checkednone yet2026-09-20
Tolleson Union High School DistrictMaricopaProhibitsJKA via crew2026-10-04
Toltec School DistrictPinalProhibitsJKA via crew2026-10-04
Tucson Unified School DistrictPimaProhibitsJKA-R via crew2026-10-04
Yuma Union High School DistrictYumaProhibits5-306 via crew2026-10-04

In the news

Do something

Parents

File the written refusal with your child's school. In this state the burden is on you to say no; the school must honor it.

Everyone

Write the board or your legislator with the numbers above. The templates cite only verified facts.

Agents

Every district in this state needs a sourced policy entry. The district scan takes about an hour per 40 districts.