HB 2533

This bill makes various changes and additions to present law concerning education, as follows: (1) The County Financial Management System of 1981 provides that, i f the director or purchasing agent for a county finance department does not maintain records, follow accounting and budgetary procedures, and submit timely reports and information as prescribed by state law and the commissioner of education, then the comm issioner, after a hearing on the issue of such neglect, is required to remove the education department of the county involved from the county financial management system. This bill transf ers the responsibility for such removals from the commissioner to the comptroller of the treasury; (2) Present law generally provides an eligible employee of an LEA six weeks paid leave after the birth or stillbirth of the employee's child or the employee's adoption of a newly placed minor child. One of the eligibility requirements for such family l eave is that the employee has been employed full time with the same LEA for at least 12 consecutive months in a position for which the employee is required by law to hold a valid license of qualification, or an emergency credential issued by the departme nt of education at the time of the birth, adoption, or stillbirth of the employee's child. This bill adds that, for purposes of determining whether an employee meets the 12-month threshold, an employee who has been on paid or unpaid leave during their empl oyment with the LEA must be considered as having been employed full time during any such leave. Present law requires the state to reimburse an LEA that provides paid family leave. This bill conditions reimbursement on the department of education receivi ng the reimbursement request within the same fiscal year during which the leave was taken; (3) This bill renames the division of career and technical education as the division of college, career, and military readiness; (4) Present law authorizes the commissioner to permit up to 24 LEAs to operate as innovative educational programs that emphasize school-based decision making and the creation of small learning communities. The commissioner is authorized to waive any ru les and regulations necessary to accommodate the implementation of a local plan for a program; provided, the commissioner may waive regulations relative to health and safety only after consultation with either the commissioner of health or the state fire ma rshal, or both. This bill replaces the requirement for consultation prior to waiving health or safety regulations with a prohibition against the waiver of 15 categories of regulations, which are specified in the full text of this bill; (5) This bill changes the deadline for the department to annually update its list of students' and guardians' rights from 60 days after adjournment of the general assembly to October 31; (6) Present law schedules the dyslexia advisory council to terminate on June 30, 2027. This bill terminates the council July 1, 2026. This bill requires the advisory council for the education of students with disabilities to advise the department on m atters related to dyslexia; (7) Present law attaches the state board of education to the department for administrative purposes. This bill specifies the state board's independence; (8) Present law provides that the state board's executive director and staff have no responsibility for administering policies, rules or regulations, or the education laws of the state. This bill instead makes the executive director and staff responsib le for administering policies, rules, and education laws; (9) Present law requires the commissioner to convene an advisory group regarding outcome incentive dollars and outcome goals. Among the group's members are the chairs of the education committee of the senate, education administration committee of the h ouse of representatives, education instruction committee of the house of representatives. This bill replaces the two house chair positions with the chair of the committee of the house of representatives having jurisdiction over education; (10) This bill removes a present law requirement that the department's annual TISA report to members of the general assembly include reviews of the TISA by relevant experts, including a cost review and recommendations; (11) Present law generally requires that employees of a local board of education, charter school, or child care program in a position requiring proximity to children must release their investigative records, provide a fingerprints sample, and submit to a criminal history records check before employment and at least every five years thereafter. This bill specifies that such requirements apply to employees of an LEA, public charter school, state college or university maintaining a training, private colle ge or university maintaining a training school or child care program in a position requiring proximity to children. This bill further specifies that such requirements apply to contractors and subcontractors of such educational entities in the same manner t hat such requirements apply to contractors and subcontractors of a school, local board of education, or child care program under present law. This bill specifies that a child care program that receives funds through the department of human services (DHS) may elect to complete background checks through DHS pursuant to processes established for such agencies, rather than the processes establishe d for persons working in schools; (12) This bill defers from 2026-2027 to 2027-2028 the school year beginning with which each LEA and public charter school must require students to complete one semester of Tennessee history in the first semester of the students' fifth grade year; (13) This bill requires that funding for after-school learning mini-camps, learning loss bridge camps, and summer learning camps first be used for the eight purposes listed in the Tennessee Learning Loss Remediation and Student Acceleration Act. This b ill authorizes remaining funds to be used by LEAs or public charter schools to provide tutoring; (14) Present law designated the commissioner, or a designee, as an ex officio secretary of the state textbook and instructional materials quality commission. This bill instead designates the commissioner, or a designee, as an ex officio member of the c ommission. This bill attaches the state textbook and instructional materials quality commission to the department for administrative purposes and specifies the commission's independence. Present law requires the commissioner and the department to assist the commission by providing various services such as training, executing contracts with publishers, and providing access to the department's website for posting materials. This bill make s such provision of services to the commission permissive upon the commission's request and requires the commission to maintain its own website; (15) This bill specifies that present law requirements for school lunch and school breakfast programs, requests for waivers from the 180-day school term requirement based on outbreaks of illness, and establishment of year-round or alternative school cal endars apply to both local boards of education and public charter school governing bodies; (16) This bill removes a present law requirement that the commissioner must approve local directors of schools plans for in-service days; (17) This bill terminates the advisory council for alternative education; (18) Under present law, a search of a vehicle or container on school property may only be conducted by an SRO, a school security officer, or a trained school administrator. This bill adds authorization to conduct such searches for a school employee designated by the director of schools or the director of the public charter school, who has completed the same training available to a school administrator. Present law requires the department to establish and maintain an orientation and training program for LEAs to inform school administrators of the rights of students relative to searches. This bill instead requires the department to establish and maintai n an orientation and training program for LEAs and public charter schools, or approve an orientation and training program conducted by a licensed attorney for LEAs and public charter schools, to inform school administrators and designated employees of the r ights of students relative to searches; (19) Present law requires each student desiring to complete an early graduation program to indicate to the high school principal on a form provided by the department and signed by the student's parent the student's intent prior to the beginning of grade nine or as soon thereafter as the intent is known. This bill adds a requirement that an LEA or public charter school that receives at least one form expressing a student's intent to complete an early graduation program to report the total number of form s received for the respective school year to the department; (20) Generally, under present law, a child who is a resident, has a qualifying disability and an IEP, and meets certain enrollment requirements is eligible to participate in an individualized education account program whereby the student's parent agrees not to enroll the child in public school and funds are made available for certain educational opportunities. This bill extends eligibility for the program to a child who is participating in the Tennessee Early Intervention System (TEIS) Extended Option wh o is eligible for Part C services and whose Part B eligibility report lists a qualifying disability. Beginning July 1, 2026, this bill prohibits parents from using funds deposited in a participating student's IEA to make contributions to an achieving a better life experience account for purposes of the ABLE Act; (21) This bill attaches the Tennessee public charter school commission to the department for administrative purposes and specifies the commission's independence; (22) Present law limits initial enrollment in a public virtual school to 1,500 students; however, any public virtual school in operation as of January 1, 2013, may continue to serve the number of students enrolled in the school as of May 14, 2013. If a public virtual school demonstrates student achievement growth at a minimum level of "at expectations"" as represented by the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS) and guidelines adopted by the state board of education may exceed the enrollment c ap . This bill maintains the general limit on student enrollment for a public virtual school at 1, 500 students and provides that if the LEA has at least one public virtual school in operation as of January 1, 2026, then the LEA may use the total number of s tudents who were enrolled in the LEA's public virtual schools in the 2025-2026 school year as the LEA's enrollment cap. Beginning in the 2026-2027 school year, if each public virtual school in the LEA demonstrates student achievement growth at a minimum le vel of ""at expectations, as represented by the TVAAS and guidelines adopted by the state board of education, then the public virtual schools in the LEA may exceed the enrollment cap established for the LEA. This bill also specifies that the enrollment c ap for student enrollment in public virtual schools does not apply to adult high schools providing virtual instruction; (23) Under present law, if a public virtual school is identified as a priority school or demonstrates student achievement growth at a level of ""significantly below expectations"" for any three consecutive years of the school's operation, as represented b y the TVAAS and guidelines adopted by the state board of education the commissioner is authorized to reinstitute an enrollment cap or direct the LEA to close the school. This bill instead provides that, if a public virtual school is identified as a priority school, then the LEA is prohibited from exceeding its enrollment cap and the virtual school identified as a priority school is prohibited from exceeding its enrollmen t for the prior year. This bill further provides that, if a public virtual school is identified as a priority school for two consecutive cycles, then the LEA is required to close the public virtual school for the school year immediately following the identification. If a pub lic virtual school is closed based on being a priority school for two consecutive cycles, then the TISA payments for the LEA that established the public virtual school must exclude a student who was a member in the public virtual school in the prior schoo l year who did not remain a member in the LEA; (24) This bill replaces the Energy Efficient Schools Initiative (EESI) of 2008 with the Energy Efficient Schools Initiative (EESI) of 2026. This bill terminates the 12-member energy efficient schools council and transfers all positions, resources, contracts, and functions of the council to the department of education, effective July 1, 2026. The council is presently scheduled to terminate o n June 30, 2027. Under present law, one of the council's purposes is to award grants or loans to school systems and public charter schools for qualifying capital outlay projects. This bill instead requires the department to maintain an office of energy efficient schools (OEES) for the purpose of administering an energy efficient grant program for schools. This bill generally requires the OEES to perform various responsibilities that present law assigns to the council, such as appointing a technical advisory committee, aw arding grants and loans, verify energy efficiencies, establish and support ongoing energy management programs, and establish compensation policies for members of the TAC, unless otherwise prohibited. This bill renames the energy efficient schools council fund as the energy efficient schools fund. This bill authorizes the department to promulgate rules, including emergency rules, to effectuate changes to the EESI that required by this bill; (25) Present law requires the state board of education to promulgate rules providing employees of special schools the right to appeal to the board the commissioner's decisions relative to adverse job actions. This bill instead requires that the rules pr ovide the employees of special schools the same rights to contest adverse job actions as are granted to other employees of LEAs; (26) This bill updates medication types and delivery systems covered under present law concerning assistance in self-administration of allergy and anti-seizure medications for students; and (27) Present law requires public institutions of education to formally report incidents and complaints of antisemitic discrimination and harassment to the appropriate Title VI coordinator. This bill adds that, if the public institution of education is an LEA or public charter school, then the Title VI coordinator for the LEA or public charter school is required to investigate all complaints of antisemitic discrimination and harassment reported to the LEA or public charter school before formally reporti ng the incidents and complaints to the Title VI coordinator designated by the department. This bill requires an LEA or public charter school investigating a complaint of antisemitic discrimination or harassment to conduct the investigation in accordance with procedures outlined in rules promulgated by the state board of education and in the p olices adopted by the local board of education or public charter school governing body, as applicable. This bill adds a requirement that the department's Title VI coordinator annually report on antisemitism in LEAs and public charter schools to the attorney general and reporter and to the general assembly. ON APRIL 21, 2026, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 2533, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #1 makes the following changes:  Makes various technical clarifications.  Makes mandatory the present law authorization for the department of education to provide assistance to the textbook commission, at the commission's request. This amendment also clarifies that a departmental employee serving as secretary of the commission does so as an ex officio, not-voting member.  Eliminates the requirement that the executive director of the state board of education is responsible for administering the policies, rules, and education laws.  Authorizes a public charter school to (i) provide up to five days each semester via remote instruction; (ii) utilize remote instruction in the event of dangerous or extreme weather conditions or serious outbreaks of illness; and (iii) utilize remote instruction on days that the school administers end-of-course assessments, except that students who are administered the assessments must take the assessments in person. Present law provides these authorizations only to local education agencies.  Requires a public charter school that provides remote instruction pursuant to the above authorization to provide (i) students enrolled in kindergarten access to at least four hours of instruction each day; and (ii) students enrolled in grades one through 12 access to at least 6.5 hours of instruction each day. Present law requires only local education agencies to provide such instruction.  Requires a public charter school that provides remote instruction pursuant to the above authorization to (i) when possible and safe, make school meals available to students on days that remote instruction is provided; and (ii) make services required by a student's individualized education program available to the student on days that remote instruction is provided.  Eliminates the Energy Efficient Schools Initiative (ESSI) of 2026.  Removes certain of this bill's provisions concerning investigation of applicants for teaching positions at training schools operated by higher education institutions.  Maintains present law that requires the department of education to assist the textbook commission by providing training to new members of the commission and advisory panels.  Retains present law references to epinephrine auto-injectors."