Title 49, Education

All leaves, except military leave, shall be from a date certain to a date certain; however, any leave may be extended to a later specified date upon written request from the teacher. The procedure for extending a leave and the conditions under which a leave may be extended are th…

Positions vacated for less than twelve (12) months by teachers on leave shall be filled with an interim teacher for such time as the teacher is on leave. Upon return of the teacher within the twelve (12) months, the interim teacher shall relinquish the position, and the teacher s…

Any teacher on leave shall, at least thirty (30) days prior to the date of return, notify the director of schools in writing if the teacher does not intend to return to the position from which the teacher is on leave. Failure to render such notice may be considered breach of cont…

The regularly employed teacher who is on leave authorized by § 49-5-701, § 49-5-710 or § 49-5-711 shall receive the pay prescribed by the teacher's contract during such absence, but the right to receive such pay shall be subject to all the conditions set forth in §§ 49-5-701, 49-…

Any teacher on leave shall retain any accumulated tenure, salary or fringe benefit credits; and the leave shall not be construed to work a forfeiture of any accumulated tenure, salary or fringe benefit credits.

Substitute teachers are those teachers used to replace teachers on leave authorized by § 49-5-701, § 49-5-710 or § 49-5-711, or to fill temporary vacancies as defined by the state board of education and granted under written local school board policies. Substitute teachers may be…

(a) (1) The time allowed for sick leave within the meaning of this section for any teacher is one (1) day for each month employed up to eight (8) days per year for employees with ten-month contracts, up to nine (9) days per year for employees with eleven-month contracts, and up t…

(a) Under policies adopted by the local board of education, a teacher must be allowed personal and professional leave earned at the rate of two (2) days for each one-half (½) year employed. A teacher may take not more than two (2) days of personal or professional leave prior to h…

Part-time leaves may be granted upon written request with the conditions prevailing as recorded in the minutes of the board of education.

Leave to hold legislative office shall not be granted for more than any portion of four (4) calendar years without the consent of the local board of education. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to require the board or school system to pay the teacher during the…

(a) (1) (A) If a salaried employee of an LEA or public charter school is absent from the employee's assigned duties as a result of personal injury caused by a physical assault or other violent criminal act committed against the employee while the employee was acting in the course…

(a) Leave to hold statewide office as an officer, director, trustee or agent of a professional employees' association may be granted if the local board approves the leave after the person requesting the leave provides the director of schools with proof of election and proof of th…

(a) A teacher, including a teacher on preapproved leave or other type of leave, shall not be charged with a day of leave for any day on which the teacher's school or the school district is closed due to natural disaster, inclement weather, serious outbreak of contagious illness, …

(a) An LEA or public charter school may compensate the estate of an employee who died on or after September 1, 2024, while employed by the LEA or public charter school, for the employee's unused and accrued annual and sick leave in the same manner estates of deceased state employ…

This part shall be known and may be cited as the “Tennessee Teachers' Sick Leave Bank Act.”

(1) As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Employee organization” means any organization with membership open to teachers in which the teachers participate and that exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of representing teachers' interest to boards…

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, a sick leave bank may be established in any local school system. (b) Sick leave accumulated under § 49-5-710 may be donated to the bank. (c) Only one (1) bank shall be allowed per system. (d) To form a sick leave bank in a …

(1) When permission to establish a sick leave bank in a local school system has been granted, the sick leave bank trustees shall be established as follows:(1) No later than thirty (30) days following the adoption of operating guidelines, the local board of education and the emplo…

(a) The trustees shall provide for rules and regulations not inconsistent with this part. (b) These rules and regulations shall be filed with the local school system within sixty (60) days of authorized establishment of the bank pursuant to § 49-5-803 and shall be available for p…

(a) All persons employed in the school system who are entitled to sick leave under § 49-5-710 are eligible to participate in the sick leave bank of that school system. (b) Upon the establishment of a sick leave bank and the selection of the trustees for the sick leave bank, the t…

(a) Any teacher who elects to participate in the bank shall initially have a maximum of three (3) days of sick leave deducted from such teacher's personal accumulation and donated to the sick leave bank. (b) Donations of sick leave to the bank are nonrefundable and nontransferabl…

(a) The sick leave bank trustees shall administer the sick leave bank and approve or reject each request for additional sick leave. All actions of the trustees will require three (3) affirmative votes. (b) The form and manner of application for use of leave from the bank shall be…

(1) A member shall lose the right to obtain the benefits of the sick leave bank by:(1) Resignation or termination of employment with the local school system;(2) Cancellation of participation that is effective only on June 30 next;(3) Refusal to honor such assessment as may be req…

In the event the sick leave bank is dissolved, the total days on deposit shall be returned to the then participating members and credited to their personal sick leave accumulation in proportion to the number of days each has contributed individually. Days returned under this sect…

Notwithstanding any provision of this part to the contrary, if an LEA has established a teachers' sick leave bank, then the LEA may permit any employee of the LEA who is not a teacher to participate in either the teachers' sick leave bank or a classified employee sick bank; provi…

(a) The board of education or school board of any town, city, county or district shall have the power to establish what shall be known as a “public school teachers' retirement fund.” (b) Where the school board of any city, town, county or district determines to establish the fund…

(a) The school boards shall adopt the necessary rules and regulations, fix the basis or amounts of the annuities and the contributions made and prescribe all other necessary provisions to put this part into operation. (b) Any rule or regulation that affects either the collections…

As used in this part, “teacher” means and includes any director of schools, assistant director of schools, principal, assistant principal, supervisor, assistant supervisor, persons in charge of any special department of instruction, and any teacher or instructor regularly employe…

(a) No pension or annuity shall be provided exceeding three-fourths (¾) of the salary paid the teacher at the time of retirement, and in no event shall it exceed the sum of six hundred dollars ($600) per annum. (b) The maximum assessment on any teacher coming under the operation …

Any teacher who has not contributed to the minimum amount may make up the deficiency by a cash payment in full with principal and interest or by having it deducted in equal amounts from the annuity installments.

Every teacher who has annually contributed to the fund in accordance with this part for at least five (5) years and has taught in the public schools not less than twenty-five (25) years, fifteen (15) years of which have been in the public schools of a city, town, county or distri…

Every teacher in the public schools of a city, town, county or district who has taught in the schools not less than ten (10) years, has contributed for not less than five (5) years annually to the fund, as may be provided under this part, and has become, without the fault of the …

In case the fund is insufficient to pay the annuity provided for in this part, there shall be a ratable distribution among such beneficiaries who may be entitled to the annuity, and there shall be no claim for any deficiency.

All annuities granted and payable out of the teachers' retirement fund shall be and are exempt from seizure or levy upon attachment, execution, supplemental process and all other process, whether mesne or final. The annuities or any payment of the annuities shall not be subject t…

(a) There shall be a board of trustees for each city, town, county or district established, which shall be known as the public school teachers' retirement fund board, and shall be composed of nine (9) members who shall serve without compensation. (b) The board shall consist of fi…

(a) The board of trustees is authorized to make rules and regulations for the government of the body, subject to the limitations of this part. (b) (1) Six (6) members of the board constitute a quorum, one (1) of whom shall be a member of the school board.(2) No official act of th…

The board of trustees shall have authority to elect one (1) or more of its body whose duty it shall be to actually attend to the duties and obligations of the trust, and to make an adequate solvent bond for the faithful performance of its duties and the safekeeping of the fund.

(a) The board shall manage, lend, maintain, keep or deposit such funds for the benefit and uses of the public school teachers' retirement fund. (b) The board shall receive all moneys from donations, legacies, gifts, bequests, and any surplus that may remain at the end of any fisc…

(a) The city, town, or county treasurer or trustee shall receive and retain on deposit to the credit of the public school teachers' retirement fund each annual contribution made, as provided in this part, until the end of the fiscal year. (b) At the end of the fiscal year the con…

The public school teachers' retirement fund held in trust by the board of trustees shall be known as the sinking fund of the public school teachers' retirement fund, and is created and held for the purposes and uses of supplementing any deficiencies that may occur in the fund or …

At any time that the funds in the hands of the public treasury to the credit of the fund become insufficient, the board of trustees shall assign, as soon and so far as can practically be done, from the sinking fund under its control, to the city or town treasurer, or county trust…