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HB1016 • 2026

Education, Dept. of

AN ACT to amend Chapter __ of the Public Acts of 2025 (1st Ex. Sess. – SB 6001 / HB 6004); and Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4; Title 8 and Title 49, relative to education.

Education
Active

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

Sponsor
Littleton, Lowe
Last action
2025-04-03
Official status
Received from House, Passed on First Consideration
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide details about enforcement mechanisms or penalties for non-compliance, leaving this information uncertain.

Education Department Reporting Act

This bill changes when and to whom the Tennessee Education Department must submit an early grades reading report.

What This Bill Does

  • Changes the date by which the Tennessee Education Department must submit an annual early grades reading report from a previous unspecified date to October 15th each year.
  • Updates the committees that receive the early grades reading report to be the Senate's education committee and the House of Representatives' committee with jurisdiction over education.

Who It Names or Affects

  • The Tennessee Education Department
  • Public charter schools and their directors

Terms To Know

LEA (Local Educational Agency)
An agency responsible for providing public education in a specific area, such as a school district.
Public Charter School
A publicly funded school that operates independently of the local school board under a charter agreement.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify what happens if public charter schools do not comply with the new requirements.
  • It is unclear how this act will be enforced and what penalties, if any, may apply for non-compliance.

Amendments

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

Amendment 1-0 to HB1016

Plain English: The amendment updates Tennessee law to include public charter schools in provisions related to education and adds a new rule that prohibits tracking or monitoring of internet usage on personal devices by both LEAs (Local Education Agencies) and public charter schools, except during tests.

  • Adds 'public charter school' alongside 'LEA' in several sections of the Tennessee Code Annotated regarding education.
  • Prohibits LEAs and public charter schools from tracking or monitoring a person's internet usage on personal devices off school property, with an exception for test-taking situations.
  • The amendment text does not specify how this new prohibition will be enforced or what the consequences might be for violations.

Bill History

  1. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Education Committee

  2. 2026-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  3. 2026-01-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Reset on Final calendar of Senate Education Committee

  4. 2026-01-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Education Committee calendar for 1/14/2026

  5. 2025-04-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Received from House, Passed on First Consideration

  6. 2025-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.

  7. 2025-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed H., as am., Ayes 95, Nays 0, PNV 0

  8. 2025-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0165)

  9. 2025-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  10. 2025-03-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/31/2025

  11. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/27/2025

  12. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate Education Committee to first calendar of 2026

  13. 2025-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee

  14. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/25/2025

  15. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Education Committee calendar for 3/26/2025

  16. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate Education Committee to 3/26/2025

  17. 2025-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  18. 2025-03-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor change.

  19. 2025-03-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) withdrawn.

  20. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Education Administration Subcommittee for 3/18/2025

  21. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  22. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Education Administration Subcommittee

  23. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Ref. to Education Committee

  24. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Education Committee calendar for 3/19/2025

  25. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor change.

  26. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Education Committee

  27. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  28. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  29. 2025-02-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  30. 2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  31. 2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

ON MARCH 31, 2025, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 1016, AS AMENDED.

AME
NDMENT #1 rewrites the bill to, instead, make the following revisions to present law:



Requires, in the same manner as an LEA, a public charter school to
adopt an internet acceptable use policy.



Requires such policy to contain provisions that, amongst other things, p
rohibit the LEA or public charter school from tracking or monitoring a person's use of the internet via a personal electronic device off school property, except for instances in which a student uses a personal electronic device during a test.



Requires the director of a public charter school, in the same manner as a director of schools, to
take such steps as appropriate to implement and enforce the
public charter school's
policy.



Applies the same requirements in present law upon providers of digital or online resources that contract with a public charter school
for the provision of digital or online materials created and marketed for
grades
K-12 school use
that apply to those providers contracting with an LEA or a state agency.



Requires a public charter school
, in the same manner as an LEA or state agency,
that contracts for the provision of digital or online materials created and marketed for
grades
K-12 school use
to
adopt and implement a policy that

(i) allows a person to file a complaint with the respective public charter school concerning an alleged violation of the requirements described above
; and
(ii) requires the
public charter school
to review
such
a complaint to determine if action is necessary.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
SENATE BILL 1027
By Lowe

HOUSE BILL 1016
By Littleton

HB1016
002912
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Chapter __ of the Public Acts of 2025
(1st Ex. Sess. – SB 6001 / HB 6004); and
Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4; Title 8 and
Title 49, relative to education.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-1-907, is amended by deleting the
first sentence and substituting:
By October 15 of each year, the department of education shall annually submit
an early grades reading report for the immediately preceding school year to the
education committee of the senate and the committee of the house of representatives
having jurisdiction over education.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.