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HB0656 • 2026

Education, Dept. of

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4 and Title 49, relative to education.

Education Labor
Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Farmer, Seal
Last action
2026-04-14
Official status
Received from House, Passed on First Consideration
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The candidate explanation included claims about funding for teacher development programs, which are not supported by the official source material. The bill summary does not provide details on how the data will be used or its impact on teachers and students.

Education Department Reporting Requirements

This bill requires the Tennessee Education Commissioner to publish on the department's website each year the number of waivers given to local education agencies for class size requirements.

What This Bill Does

  • Requires the commissioner to post online by June 1st every year the number of times schools got permission to have larger than average class sizes in the previous school year.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Local education agencies (LEAs) that may apply for class size waiver permissions.
  • The Tennessee Department of Education which must publish the data.

Terms To Know

Local education agency (LEA)
A public school system or other organization that provides educational services within a specific area, such as a city or county.
Waiver
An official permission to not follow certain rules or requirements for a good reason.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify what happens if an LEA fails to report the number of waivers.
  • It is unclear how this data will be used by the public or other agencies.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

Amendment 1-0 to HB0656

Plain English: This amendment changes how local education agencies and public charter schools handle unused leave compensation for employees who die while working.

  • Local education agencies (LEAs) and public charter schools can now compensate the estates of employees who died on or after September 1, 2024, with their unused annual and sick leave in a similar way to how state employee estates are compensated.
  • Employees can choose a beneficiary to receive payment for their accrued annual and sick leave if they pass away. If no choice is made, the same person who receives retirement benefits will get this payment.
  • The amendment does not specify what happens if an employee dies before September 1, 2024.
  • It's unclear how this change affects existing policies or practices for handling unused leave compensation prior to the specified date.
Amendment 1-0 to SB0687

Plain English: This amendment changes how local education agencies and public charter schools handle unused leave compensation for deceased employees.

  • Local education agencies (LEAs) and public charter schools can now compensate the estates of employees who died on or after September 1, 2024, for their unused annual and sick leave in a way similar to how state employee estates are compensated.
  • Employees can choose a beneficiary to receive payment for their accrued annual and sick leave if they pass away. If no choice is made, the same beneficiary designated for retirement benefits will receive this payment.
  • The amendment does not specify what happens if an employee has multiple beneficiaries or if there are any special cases that need to be addressed separately.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Received from House, Passed on First Consideration

  2. 2026-04-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.

  3. 2026-04-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  4. 2026-04-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed H., as am., Ayes 96, Nays 0, PNV 0

  5. 2026-04-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0815)

  6. 2026-04-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/14/2026

  7. 2026-04-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/13/2026

  8. 2026-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/9/2026

  9. 2026-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee

  10. 2026-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Finance, Ways, and Means Committee for 4/7/2026

  11. 2026-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee

  12. 2026-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee

  13. 2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/1/2026

  14. 2026-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee

  15. 2026-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee

  16. 2026-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 3/31/2026

  17. 2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/24/2026

  18. 2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee Ayes 8, Nays 0 PNV 0

  19. 2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  20. 2026-03-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action def. in Education Committee to 3/24/2026

  21. 2026-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Education Committee calendar for 3/18/2026

  22. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/17/2026

  23. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate Education Committee to 3/18/2026

  24. 2026-03-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Education Committee

  25. 2026-03-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor change.

  26. 2026-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Education Committee calendar for 3/11/2026

  27. 2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Education Administration Subcommittee for 3/10/2026

  28. 2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  29. 2026-03-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Education Administration Subcommittee

  30. 2026-03-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Ref. to Education Committee

  31. 2026-02-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) withdrawn.

  32. 2026-02-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor change.

  33. 2026-02-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  34. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Education Committee

  35. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  36. 2025-02-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, caption bill, held on desk - pending amdt.

  37. 2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  38. 2025-02-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  39. 2025-01-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

ON APRIL 13, 2026, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 656, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 rewrites this bill to extend present law concerning compensated unused leave for teachers to all employees of LEAs and public charter schools.

Present law authorizes an LEA or public charter school to compensate the estate of a teacher who died on or after September 1, 2024, while employed by the LEA or public charter school, for the teacher's unused and accrued annual and sick leave in the sam
e manner that the estates of deceased state employees are compensated. A teacher may designate a beneficiary to receive payment for accrued annual and sick leave upon the teacher's death. Unless a teacher designates differently, the beneficiary is the s
am
e as the beneficiary designated for receipt of retirement benefits with the TCRS.

This amendment makes the above provisions applicable to all employees of an LEA or public charter school

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
SENATE BILL 687
By White

HOUSE BILL 656
By Farmer
HB0656
000970
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4 and
Title 49, relative to education.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-1-104(i), is amended by adding
the following as a new subdivision:
(3) By June 1, 2025, and June 1 each year thereafter, the commissioner shall
publish on the department's website the number of waivers granted to LEAs pursuant to
this subsection (i) during the previous school year.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.