Title 49, Education

This part shall be known and may be cited as the “Tennessee Community Schools Act.”

(1) The general assembly finds and declares that:(1) All children are capable of success;(2) Schools are the centers of vibrant communities;(3) Strong families build strong educational communities;(4) Children succeed when adults work together to foster positive educational outco…

(1) As used in this part:(1) “Community consortium” means a partnership established between an LEA and one (1) or more community partners for purposes of establishing, operating, and sustaining a community school;(2) “Community partner” means a provider of one (1) or more communi…

(a) LEAs and schools are authorized and encouraged to form community consortiums with a variety of community partners to establish a community school or schools with an integrated focus on academics, health and social services, youth and community development and community engage…

(a) The state board of education and the department shall support and encourage LEAs in the creation of community schools. All policies, guidelines, and rules and regulations adopted by the state board pursuant to this part shall actively foster the formation, development and ope…

The office of research and education accountability (OREA) in the office of the comptroller of the treasury shall study and report on the formation and operation of community schools. OREA shall specifically identify best practices that can be replicated by other LEAs and schools…

(a) Although §§ 49-6-2401 — 49-6-2406 support the formation of a community school, schools in some neighborhoods may need to join together to form, with the help of community partners, a community of schools, instead of a community school. The state board of education and the dep…

Community schools and communities of schools are encouraged to work with parents and community partners to adopt holistic programs of positive behavior reinforcement, such as the Ticket Program, that work with schools, parents, and the community to reinforce positive behavior at …

(a) Community schools and communities of schools are encouraged to become the central headquarters for the neighborhoods in which they exist. They are authorized to work with community partners, when possible, to establish local internet network architecture to extend service thr…

(a) The department of education shall work with at least one (1) statewide coalition composed of practitioners, administrators, advocates, and other stakeholders to identify opportunities for the department to support the formation and effective administration of community school…

This part shall be known and may be cited as the “National Motto in the Classroom Act.”

(a) Beginning in the 2018-2019 school year, an LEA shall require all schools within the LEA to display the national motto of the United States, “In God We Trust,” in a prominent location in each school. (b) The display required in subsection (a) may take the form of, but is not l…

This part shall be known and may be cited as the “Tennessee Education Savings Account Pilot Program.”

(1) As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Department” means the department of education;(2) “Eligible postsecondary institution” means:(A) An institution operated by:(i) The board of trustees of the University of Tennessee;(ii) The board of regents of t…

(a) To participate in the program, a parent of an eligible student who is seventeen (17) years of age or younger, or an eligible student who has reached the age of eighteen (18) must agree in writing to:(1) Ensure the provision of an education for the participating student that s…

(a) The department shall establish:(1) Procedures to determine student eligibility in accordance with the requirements established by this part;(2) (A) An application form that a parent of a student or a student who has reached eighteen (18) years of age may submit to the departm…

(a) The maximum annual amount to which a participating student is entitled under the program must be equal to the amount representing the per pupil state and local funds generated and required through the TISA for the LEA in which the participating student resides, but must not e…

(a) (1) (A) As a condition of receiving an ESA, participating students in grades three through eleven (3-11) must be annually administered:(i) A nationally standardized achievement test that is aligned to the respective participating school's instructional plan, as determined by …

(a) ESA funds shall only be used for the expenses listed in § 49-6-2603(a)(4). (b) The department shall establish and maintain separate ESAs for each participating student and shall verify that the uses of ESA funds are permitted under § 49-6-2603(a)(4) and institute fraud protec…

(a) (1) The department may suspend or terminate a participating school's or provider's participation in the program if the department determines that the participating school or provider has failed to comply with the requirements of this part.(2) The state board shall promulgate …

(a) A participating school or provider is autonomous and not an agent of this state. (b) The creation of the ESA program does not expand the regulatory authority of this state, the officers of this state, or an LEA to impose any additional regulation of participating schools or p…

The state board is authorized to promulgate rules to effectuate the purposes of this part. The rules must be promulgated in accordance with the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5.

(a) (1) The general assembly recognizes this state's legitimate interest in the continual improvement of all LEAs and particularly the LEAs that have consistently had the lowest performing schools on a historical basis. Accordingly, it is the intent of this part to establish a pi…

An education savings account is a state or local public benefit under § 4-58-102.

(a) Each LEA shall adopt a policy to establish a threat assessment team within the LEA. The purpose of the threat assessment team is to develop comprehensive intervention-based approaches to prevent violence, manage reports of potential threats, and create a system that fosters a…

(a) (1) Upon a preliminary determination by the threat assessment team that an individual poses a threat of violence or exhibits significantly disruptive behavior or need for assistance, the threat assessment team may:(A) Request law enforcement information or records, which may …

(1) A threat assessment team and individual members of a threat assessment team, and any person providing information to a threat assessment team, are not liable in any action for damages or for other relief for any lawful actions taken in accordance with this part. A threat asse…

(a) An LEA that receives, from a threat assessment team or any other source, credible information regarding a threat of violence or significantly disruptive behavior directed toward, or occurring on the grounds of, a public school in the LEA, and that reports the threat or disrup…

(a) A teacher trained in evidence-based behavior supports is authorized to manage the teacher's classroom, discipline students, and refer a student to the principal or the principal's designee to maintain discipline in the classroom, and to hold students in the teacher's charge s…

(a) (1) Each local board of education and each public charter school governing body shall adopt a policy regarding a teacher's ability to relocate a student from the student's present location to another location for the student's safety or for the safety of others.(2) The use of…

In order to manage student behavior, to ensure the safety of all students in the teacher's classroom and school, and to ensure students the opportunity to learn in an orderly and disciplined classroom, a teacher may refer a student to the principal or the principal's designee. Wh…

(a) A teacher may submit a written request to the principal, or the principal's designee, to remove a student who repeatedly or substantially interferes with the teacher's ability to communicate effectively with the class or with the ability of the student's classmates to learn, …

This part shall be known and may be cited as the “Tennessee Student Religious Liberty Act of 1997.”

(a) The general assembly finds the following:(1) Judicial decisions concerning religion, free speech and public education are widely misunderstood and misapplied;(2) Confusion surrounding these decisions has caused some to be less accommodating of the religious liberty and free s…

(1) As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Establishment clause” means the portion of the first amendment to the United States constitution that forbids laws respecting an establishment of religion;(2) “Free exercise clause” means the portion of the firs…

(a) A student shall have the right to carry out an activity described in any of subdivisions (b)(1)-(4), if the student does not:(1) Infringe on the rights of the school to:(A) Maintain order and discipline;(B) Prevent disruption of the educational process; and(C) Determine educa…

(a) Nothing in this part shall be construed to affect, interpret or in any way address the establishment clause. (b) The specification of religious liberty or free speech rights in §§ 49-6-2901 — 49-6-2906 shall not be construed to exclude or limit religious liberty or free speec…

Nothing in this part shall be construed to support, encourage or permit a teacher, administrator or other employee of the public schools to lead, direct or encourage any religious or antireligious activity in violation of that portion of the first amendment of the United States c…

(a) LEAs and school administrators may not prohibit personnel from participating in religious activities on school grounds that are initiated by students at reasonable times before or after the instructional day so long as such activities are voluntary for all parties and do not …

(a) The public schools are free to all persons residing within the state who are above five (5) years of age, or who will become five (5) years of age on or before August 15. (b) (1) Any child residing within the state who is five (5) years of age, or who will become five (5) yea…

(a) The state board of education shall promulgate rules, in accordance with the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5, that prescribe guidelines for use by local boards of education in establishing standards and policies governing student attendanc…

(a) (1) No tuition or fee shall be charged by any city or special school district except to pupils residing outside the city or district.(2) Tuition or fees that may be charged to pupils residing outside the city or district but within the county shall not exceed per pupil, per a…

(a) Each public school system shall maintain a term of no less than two hundred (200) days, divided as follows:(1) One hundred eighty (180) days for classroom instruction;(2) Ten (10) days for vacation with pay for a two hundred-day term, eleven (11) days for vacation with pay fo…

(a) The following classes of children between six (6) and seventeen (17) years of age, both inclusive, shall be temporarily excused from complying with this part, the local board of education to be sole judge in all such cases involving children who are enrolled in a public schoo…

(a) The sole responsibility and authority for the enforcement of the compulsory attendance laws, compiled in this part, are placed in the local board of education and its designated employees and officers. (b) To facilitate the enforcement of the compulsory attendance laws, the d…

(a) By the beginning of each school year, the director of schools shall furnish, or cause to be furnished through the attendance supervisor, to the principal of each school a list of students who will attend the school together with the names of the students' parents or guardians…