ON APRIL 1, 2024, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 191, AS AMENDED.
AMENDMENT #1 rewrites the bill to make the changes described below:
Present law requires a public school building, including a public charter school building, constructed or remodeled after July 1, 2023, to, among other things, have installed a clear, bullet-resistant or entry-resistant film on the glass panel of each exterior entry or basement level window and door to prevent individuals from entering the school building without authorization by breaking the glass in an exterior entry or basement level window or door. This amendment revises the present law by, instead, requiring to have installed a clear entry-resistant film on the glass panel of each exterior entry or basement level window and door.
Starting the 2024-2025 school year and each school year thereafter, this amendment prohibits an LEA from creating a local grading policy or procedure that establishes a minimum grade above zero that a student may earn for coursework.
ON APRIL 22, 2024, THE HOUSE SUBSTITUTED SENATE BILL 191 FOR HOUSE BILL 390, ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1, AND PASSED SENATE BILL 191, AS AMENDED.
AMENDMENT #1 makes the changes described below.
RTI² REVISION
This amendment requires the department of education ("department") to revise Tennessee's response to instruction and intervention (RTI²) framework manual to only require LEAs and public charter schools to: (i) screen a student three times per school year if the student is enrolled in any of the grades kindergarten through three; and (ii) screen a student in grades four through eight if the student is "at risk," as defined in Tennessee's RTI² framework manual. The department must allow LEAs and public charter schools to meet the intervention requirements in Tennessee's RTI² framework manual by providing high-dosage, low-ratio tutoring services to students identified for intervention. The tutoring services provided must meet the tutoring requirements established by the department. However, the above provisions do not supersede an LEA's or public charter school's obligation to comply with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or the Rehabilitation Act.
PERFORMANCE DESIGNATION
If an LEA receives the lowest performance determination in the accountability model as approved by the state board, then present law requires the LEA to be subject to the following: (i) placement on a public list of LEAs earning the lowest accountability determination; and (ii) creation of an aggressive plan for corrective action that includes a detailed analysis of its student achievement results, and submission of such plan to the commissioner for approval. This amendment revises the present law by, instead, requiring submission of such plan to the commissioner for approval no more than once every three years.
Present law requires an LEA with a school or schools identified as focus schools to submit a plan to the commissioner, subject to the commissioner's approval, outlining how the LEA must address the factors leading the school or schools to be placed in focus status. This amendment requires such plan to be submitting to the commissioner no more than once every three years.
Upon receiving notice that a school has been identified as a priority school, present law requires the LEA or authorizing entity to, for each school identified, develop and implement a comprehensive support and improvement plan for the school to improve student outcomes. This amendment requires the comprehensive support and improvement plan to be submitted to the department for approval no more than once every three years.
Present law authorizes an LEA to develop a plan for the creation of an LEA innovation zone for the purpose of monitoring, overseeing and improving schools within the LEA that are designated as priority schools pursuant to and approved for inclusion in the innovation zone by the commissioner. This amendment prohibits the department from requiring an LEA that develops a plan for the creation of an LEA innovation zone to submit the plan for approval more than once every three years.
This amendment prohibits the state board of education from including in the performance goals and measures for a public school or LEA, the student achievement, student growth, or any other student data that serves as an indicator of performance for a student who enrolls in, or transfers to, the public school or LEA on or after December 31. However, the data may be included in the performance goals and measures for the public school or LEA in which the student was enrolled prior to December 31 of the respective school year, if applicable.
This amendment prohibits the state board from including in the performance goals and measures for a public school or LEA, the number of students enrolled in the public school or LEA who have been identified by the public school, LEA, or department of education as chronically absent. However, this does not prohibit the department from collecting data on students who are chronically absent from a public school or LEA in this state, or from reporting such data on the state report card or as otherwise required by the Every Student Succeeds Act.
This amendment requires each LEA and public charter school to develop, adopt, and implement an intervention policy for students who are chronically absent and submit the policy to the department for approval. An adopted intervention policy must describe the following:
(1) How chronically absent students will be identified;
(2) What documentation the LEA or public charter school will require from parents, guardians, or students to determine whether an absence from school is excused or unexcused;
(3) How the academic progress of chronically absent students will be monitored by the LEA or public charter school;
(4) How the LEA or public charter school will regularly communicate with parents and guardians of chronically absent students, which must include, at a minimum, conducting meetings or conferences at established intervals with a parent or guardian of a chronically absent student and recording the attendance of each school official and parent or guardian at each meeting; and
(5) Other intervention methods, including any available community resources, identified by the LEA or public charter school to assist parents and guardians of chronically absent students in addressing the factors that may be causing or contributing to the student's absence from school.
This amendment prohibits the department from requiring an LEA or public charter school to submit its intervention policy to the department more than once every three years. The state board must include in the performance goals and measures for public schools and LEAs, compliance with the intervention policy adopted by the LEA or public charter school.
As used in this amendment, "chronically absent" means that a student has been absent from school for 18 or more school days of the respective school year, or the equivalent of 18 school days if the school elects to meet attendance requirements by providing a minimum number of instructional hours per school year in accordance with rules promulgated by the state board of education.
SCHOOL GRADING SYSTEM
This amendment prohibits student achievement, student growth, or any other student data that serves as an indicator of performance for a student who enrolls in, or transfers to, a public school on or after December 31 from being used to assign a letter grade to the receiving school. However, the data may be used to assign a letter grade to the school in which the student was enrolled prior to December 31 of the respective school year.
REQUEST TO AMEND
This amendment requires the department of education to, no later than January 1, 2025, submit a request to the United States department of education to amend this state's Every Student Succeeds Act plan for purposes of implementing the provisions of this amendment relevant to performance designations and school grading systems.
EFFECTIVE DATE
The provisions of this amendment relevant to performance designations and school grading systems take effect on the thirtieth day immediately following the date on which the United States department of education approves the amendment to this state's Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan submitted pursuant to this amendment, the public welfare requiring it. The commissioner of education must notify the executive secretary of the Tennessee Code Commission in writing of the date on which the United States department of education approved the amendment to this state's ESSA plan. If the United States department of education does not approve the amendment to this state's ESSA plan, then the provisions of this amendment relevant to performance designations and school grading systems have no effect.
ON APRIL 23, 2024, THE SENATE NON-CONCURRED IN HOUSE AMENDMENT #1.
ON APRIL 23, 2024, THE HOUSE REFUSED TO RECEDE FROM ITS ADOPTION OF HOUSE AMENDMENT #1.
ON APRIL 24, 2024, THE SENATE REFUSED TO RECEDE FROM ITS NON-CONCURRENCE IN HOUSE AMENDMENT #1.
ON APRIL 25, 2024, THE SENATE APPOINTED A CONFERENCE COMMITTEE.
ON APRIL 25, 2024, HOUSE APPOINTED A CONFERENCE COMMITTEE.
ON APRIL 25, 2024, THE SENATE ADOPTED THE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REPORT.
ON APRIL 25, 2024, THE HOUSE ADOPTED THE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REPORT.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 49-2-304(b), 49-2-304
Amended with SA0781 -- 04/01/2024: 49-2-304(b), 49-2-304, 49-6-818(a)(2), 49-6-818, 49-6-407(c), 49-6-407
Amended with SA0781, HA1002 -- 04/22/2024: 49-2-304(b), 49-2-304, 49-6-818(a)(2), 49-6-818, 49-6-407(c), 49-6-407, 49-1-602(a)(3)(B), 49-1-602, 49-1-602(b)(4), 49-1-602(b)(6), 49-1-602(c), 49-1-228