Title 49, Education

(a) Both parents, if living, or the parent, guardian, legal custodian, guardian ad litem or attorney of any student assigned pursuant to part 31 of this chapter who is dissatisfied with the assignment of the student may, within ten (10) days of the order making the assignment, ma…

(a) The board shall consider and decide each individual case separately on its merits, and its decision shall be based upon a consideration of the factors set forth in § 49-6-3103. (b) Within a reasonable time after the completion of the hearing, the board shall enter a written o…

(a) (1) In conducting hearings provided in part 31 of this chapter and this part, the board shall not be bound by the rules of evidence applicable in a court, but it may admit and give probative effect to any evidence that possesses such probative value as would entitle it to be …

(a) The board of education is authorized to designate one (1) or more of its members or one (1) or more competent examiners to conduct the hearings, to take testimony and to make a report of the hearings to the entire board for its determination. (b) Before the board enters a fin…

(a) Both parents, if living, or the parent, guardian or legal custodian of a child so assigned by final order of the board, may, at any time within thirty (30) days from the date of the final order, obtain a judicial review of the order by filing a petition for review in the chan…

(a) Each board of education shall be authorized to employ counsel to represent the board in any matters arising under part 31 of this chapter and this part, to employ court reporters for the purpose of preserving evidence at hearings conducted under part 31 of this chapter and th…

(a) (a) Each LEA and public charter school shall require at least one (1) full-time employee at each school under its jurisdiction to annually receive training in seizure safety and first aid to assist students and staff in the event of an emergency.(b) The training required for …

(a) As used in this section:(1) “Digital device” means electronic hardware used for instructional purposes that can access, process, store, or transmit data;(2) “Parent” means a parent or legal guardian of a student in any of the grades kindergarten through five (K-5); and(3) “So…

(a) If an order of protection is issued pursuant to title 36, chapter 3, part 6, to protect a student who is enrolled in a public school in this state from another student who is enrolled in the same public school, then a student safety plan must be developed and implemented in a…

(a) Beginning with the 2027-2028 school year, each LEA and public charter school shall enroll a student who achieves a performance level rating of “exceeds expectations” on the mathematics portion of the student's seventh grade Tennessee comprehensive assessment program (TCAP) te…

(a) (1) Each LEA and public charter school shall adopt an internet acceptable use policy. At a minimum, the policy must establish:(A) Internet safety protocols for students that are integrated into the LEA's or public charter school's instructional program;(B) Guidelines for effe…

(a) As used in this section:(1) “Local assessment” means a standardized test or assessment selected by an LEA or public school that is administered to students at the sole direction of the LEA or public school. “Local assessment” does not include:(A) A Tennessee comprehensive ass…

(a) The commissioner of education is authorized to appoint a supervisor of census and attendance in the department of education whose primary responsibility shall be to supervise and enforce the census and compulsory school attendance laws. (b) The supervisor of census and attend…

The commissioner, upon due hearing after two (2) weeks' written notice to the board of education affected, may withhold and declare forfeited any part or all state school funds due any school district that refuses or neglects to comply with and to enforce the census or compulsory…

(a) Any principal, principal-teacher or assistant principal of any public school in this state is authorized to suspend a pupil from attendance at the school, including its sponsored activities, or from riding a school bus, for good and sufficient reasons. Good and sufficient rea…

(a) Local boards of education may establish alternative schools for students in grades one through six (1-6) who have been suspended or expelled from the regular school program. At least one (1) alternative school or alternative program shall be established and available for stud…

(a) (1) Each LEA shall track the operation and performance of alternative school programs operated by the LEA or contractually operated for the LEA. LEAs shall measure and report to the department of education alternative school success through academic indicators and behavior in…

This part is known and may be cited as the “Education Freedom Scholarship Act.”

(1) As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Department” means the department of education;(2) “Eligible student” means a resident of this state who is entitled to attend a public school, except for a student enrolled in a home school, as defined in § 49-6…

(a) There is created an education freedom scholarship program to be administered by the department. (b) Subject to appropriations and other available funds, the program must provide a scholarship to an eligible student who applies for the 2025-2026 school year or any subsequent s…

(a) For the 2025-2026 school year, the department shall award a maximum of twenty thousand (20,000) scholarships, to be awarded as follows, in the order in which the department receives completed scholarship applications:(1) Ten thousand (10,000) scholarships are available for el…

(a) A scholarship equals the base funding amount, as defined in § 49-3-104(2), and is solely state funded. (b) Scholarship funds must first be used to pay the recipient's tuition and fees, as described in subdivision (c)(1). Any outstanding scholarship funds available to the reci…

(a) A recipient's scholarship account remains open, and all available scholarship funds remain in the recipient's scholarship account, from one (1) school year to another unless one (1) of the events described in subsection (b) occurs. (b) A recipient's scholarship account must b…

(a) (1) As a condition of receiving a scholarship pursuant to this part, recipients in grades three through eleven (3-11) must be annually administered:(A) A nationally standardized achievement test that is aligned to the respective private school's instructional plan, as determi…

(a) A private school that enrolls recipients is autonomous and not an agent of this state. (b) The creation of the education freedom scholarship program does not expand the regulatory authority of this state, the officers of this state, or the authority of any LEA to impose any a…

(a) Notwithstanding another law to the contrary, the department shall deny a scholarship to an eligible student for the same school year in which the student is participating in the Tennessee education savings account pilot program, compiled in part 26 of this chapter, or the ind…

(a) A scholarship awarded under this part:(1) Shall not be paid directly to a recipient or recipient's parent; and(2) Is a state or local public benefit under § 4-58-102. (1) Shall not be paid directly to a recipient or recipient's parent; and (2) Is a state or local public benef…

Notwithstanding § 49-6-3504, the department shall deny the scholarship application of an eligible student who cannot establish the eligible student's lawful presence in the United States.

The state board of education shall promulgate rules to effectuate this part. The rules must include an administrative appeal procedure for the denial of scholarship applications. The rules must be promulgated in accordance with the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled …

(a) The department shall annually report, in accordance with subsection (b), the number of eligible students who applied for a scholarship, disaggregated by:(1) The number of applications received from each county;(2) The number of eligible students who, at the time of submitting…

(a) As used in this part:(1) “LEA” has the same meaning as defined in § 49-1-103; and(2) “School youth athletic activity” has the same meaning as defined in § 68-55-501. (1) “LEA” has the same meaning as defined in § 49-1-103; and (2) “School youth athletic activity” has the same…

(a) The departments of education and health shall develop and post on the departments' respective websites guidelines and other relevant materials to inform and educate students, parents, and coaches about:(1) The nature and warning signs of sudden cardiac arrest and the risks as…

(a) A student participating in, or seeking to participate in, an athletic activity, and the student's parent or guardian must sign and return to the student's public school an acknowledgement of their receipt and review of a sudden cardiac arrest symptoms and warning signs inform…

This part is known and may be cited as the “School Turnaround Program Act.”

(1) As used in this part:(1) “Department” means the department of education;(2) “Non-participating school” means a priority school that is not assigned by the department to participate in the school turnaround program;(3) “Priority school” means a school placed in priority status…

(a) The department shall create and develop a school turnaround program for priority schools pursuant to § 49-6-3704. (b) The department shall select up to five (5) priority schools each year that are diverse in grade levels to participate in the program; provided, that no more t…

(a) The department shall use the same outcomes-based performance measures used in the state's accountability model to designate priority schools as schools in need of intervention for purposes of the school turnaround program. (b) Before the department designates a priority schoo…

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b)(2), a local board of education shall require a priority school to participate in the school turnaround program if the department designates the school as a school in need of intervention. (b) (1) (A) A school in need of intervention that …

(a) By September 30 of the first school year in which a school in need of intervention is participating in the program, the respective local board of education shall establish a school turnaround committee for each school in the LEA that is participating in the school turnaround …

(a) The department shall establish the minimum qualifications required for independent school turnaround experts and provide LEAs with a list of at least two (2) qualified independent school turnaround experts. The list of qualified experts must be procured competitively and in c…

Subject to available funds, the department shall provide grants to local boards of education with schools in need of intervention to facilitate the implementation of interventions identified in an approved school turnaround plan, including the funding of contracts with qualified …

This part is known and may be cited as the “Age-Appropriate Materials Act of 2022.”

(1) As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Library collection” means the materials made available to students by a school operated by an LEA or by a public charter school, but does not include materials made available to students as part of a course curr…

(a) Materials in a library collection must be suitable for the age and maturity levels of the students who may access the materials and must be suitable for, and consistent with, the educational mission of the school. (b) For purposes of this section, a material that:(1) In whole…

(a) Each LEA shall designate a foster care liaison to facilitate LEA compliance with state and federal laws related to students who are in foster care and to collaborate with the department of children's services to address educational barriers for students in foster care. (b) Th…

(a) An LEA may establish a building point of contact in each elementary school, middle school, and high school to assist in coordinating services and resources pursuant to § 49-6-3901(b) for students in foster care. These points of contact must be appointed by the director of sch…