Education

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide information on the funding of the computer-based system, specific interventions required for annual reports, or exact privacy law restrictions.

Early Behavioral Intervention and Reporting Act

This bill requires local education agencies (LEAs) and public charter schools to establish threat assessment teams, use a computer-based system for reporting early warning signs of student issues, train staff on identifying these signs, and submit annual reports to the state.

What This Bill Does

• Requires LEAs and public charter schools to create threat assessment teams.
• Mandates that teachers and school staff report early warning signs using a computer-based system.
• Trains all teachers and staff to recognize early warning signs and use the reporting system correctly.
• Requires annual reports summarizing data on student issues and interventions taken by LEAs and public charter schools.
• Allows the commissioner of education to withhold state funds from non-compliant LEAs or public charter schools.

Who It Names or Affects

• Local Education Agencies (LEAs)
• Public Charter Schools
• Teachers and school staff

Terms To Know

Early warning signs

Evidence of a student's safety, health, or behavioral issues.

Threat assessment team

A group within an LEA or public charter school that reviews reports of early warning signs and decides on necessary actions.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how the computer-based system will be funded.
• It is unclear what specific interventions must be provided by schools in their annual reports.
• Privacy laws restrict details that can be shared about individual students in these reports.

Official Summary Text

Present law requires e
ach LEA
to
adopt a policy to establish a threat assessment team develop comprehensive intervention-based approaches to prevent violence, manage reports of potential threats, and create a system
that fosters a safe, supportive, and effective school environment.
This bill specifies that public charter schools must also
adopt a policy to establish a threat assessment team
.

This bill requires L
EA
s
and public charter school
s to:

(1) I
mplement a
computer-based system that teachers and school staff must use to input data of early warning signs demonstrated by students enrolled in the LEA or public charter school
; and

(2) E
nsure that each teacher and school staff member is trained to identify ear
ly warning signs and on how to input data into the computer-based system

This bill defines
"early warning signs"
to
mean evidence of a student's safety, health, or behavioral issues.

The full text of this bill specifies three components that the comput
er-based system must include, one of which is the ability to i
mmediately notify the
members of the
LEA's or public charter school's threat assessment team when an early warning sign is entered into the system for a student. Th
is bill requires members of a
school threat assessment team who r
eceiv
e
a notification of an early warning sign of a student
to
review the notification, and any notifications of the student previously received, and determine whether further action is needed to address the student's be
havior of an early warning sign.

This bill requires each L
EA and public charter school
to
annually submit a report to the department of education summarizing the data collected in the immediately preceding school year and the interventions provided, if a
ny.
The reports will be subject to
all relevant privacy laws.

If the commissioner of education finds that an LEA or public charter school is not complying with this
bill's requirements
, then the commissioner
will be authorized to w
ithhold state funds, i
n an amount determined by the commissioner, from the LEA or public charter school until the LEA or public charter school is in compliance with this
bill
.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 386
By Taylor

HOUSE BILL 522
By Reedy

HB0522
002255
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 16;
Title 37 and Title 49, relative to student behavior.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, Chapter 6, Part 3, is amended by
adding the following as a new section:
(a) This section is known and may be cited as the "Early Behavioral Intervention
and Reporting Act."
(b) As used in this section, "early warning signs" means evidence of a student's
safety, health, or behavioral issues and includes, but is not limited to, indicators of a
student engaging in or being the victim of harassment, intimidation, bullying, or cyber-
bullying; making or receiving threats of violence; and exhibiting signs of substance
abuse, mental health issues, self-harm, or suicidal ideation.
(c) Each LEA and public charter school shall implement a computer-based
system that teachers and school staff must use to input data of early warning signs
demonstrated by students enrolled in the LEA or public charter school. Each LEA and
public charter school shall ensure that each teacher and school staff member is trained
to identify early warning signs and on how to input data into the computer-based system.
(d) The computer-based system implemented pursuant to subsection (c) must:
(1) Align with the requirements in § 49-6-4503; the School Discipline Act,
compiled in part 41 of this chapter; and the school safety plans adopted by the
LEA or public charter school pursuant to the Schools Against Violence in
Education (SAVE) Act, compiled in part 8 of this chapter;

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(2) Include a database that is capable of receiving and maintaining
student data entered by teachers and school staff on the early warning signs
demonstrated by its students; and
(3) Immediately notify the LEA's or public charter school's personnel
serving on the LEA's or public charter school's threat assessment team created
pursuant to § 49-6-2701 when an early warning sign is entered into the system
for a student.
(e) The LEA or public charter school personnel receiving a notification of an
early warning sign of a student pursuant to subdivision (d)(3) shall review the
notification, and any notifications of the student previously received, and determine
whether further action is needed to address the student's behavior of an early warning
sign.
(f) Each LEA and public charter school shall annually submit a report to the
department of education summarizing the data collected in the immediately preceding
school year and the interventions provided, if any.
(g) Reports made pursuant to this section must comply with the Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g); § 10-7-504; the Data
Accessibility, Transparency, and Accountability Act, compiled in chapter 1, part 7 of this
title; and all other relevant privacy laws.
(h) If the commissioner of education finds that an LEA or public charter school is
not complying with this section, then the commissioner may withhold state funds, in an
amount determined by the commissioner, from the LEA or public charter school until the
LEA or public charter school is in compliance with this section.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-2701, is amended by adding
"and public charter school" after "Each LEA", adding "or public charter school" after "LEA"

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wherever it appears in the section, adding "or public charter school's" after "LEA's" in subsection
(b), adding "or public charter school governing body" after "local board of education" in
subsection (e), and adding "or the director of the public charter school" after "the director of
schools" in subsection (e).
SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-2702(b), is amended by adding
"or public charter school" after "LEA" and adding "or public charter school's" after "LEA's".
SECTION 4. This act takes effect July 1, 2025, the public welfare requiring it.