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HB1088 • 2026

Local Education Agencies

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, relative to parental notification of safety concerns at public schools.

Education Parental Rights
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Sexton, Powers
Last action
2025-04-29
Official status
Comp. became Pub. Ch. 215
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The candidate explanation included details about reporting requirements for school resource officers and armed security officers, which are not explicitly stated in the official source material. Additionally, specific communication methods or consequences for delays were not mentioned in the official summary.

Parental Notification of Safety Concerns at Public Schools

This act requires local education agencies (LEAs) to notify parents and guardians within 48 hours if there is credible information about a threat of violence or significantly disruptive behavior reported to law enforcement.

What This Bill Does

  • Extends the time for LEAs to notify parents from 24 to 48 hours after reporting a safety concern to law enforcement.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Parents and guardians of students in public schools
  • Local Education Agencies (LEAs)

Terms To Know

Local Education Agency (LEA)
An organization responsible for providing education to a specific area, such as a school district.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify what happens if the notification is delayed beyond 48 hours.
  • It's unclear how LEAs will communicate with parents and guardians about safety concerns.

Amendments

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

Amendment 1-0 to HB1088

Plain English: The amendment changes how schools handle reports made to school resource officers or armed security officers, extends the time for notifying parents about safety concerns from 24 to 48 hours, and requires local boards of education to report on these incidents quarterly.

  • Schools will not consider a report made directly to a school resource officer or an off-duty law enforcement officer as a report to regular police agencies until it is forwarded by those officers.
  • Local education authorities must notify parents within 48 hours if there are safety concerns reported to the police, up from the previous requirement of 24 hours.
  • Each local board of education must now report on the number of incidents requiring parental notification at each quarterly meeting.
  • The amendment text does not specify how schools should handle reports that are made directly to school resource officers or armed security officers before they are forwarded to regular police agencies.

Bill History

  1. 2025-04-29 Tennessee General Assembly

    Comp. became Pub. Ch. 215

  2. 2025-04-29 Tennessee General Assembly

    Effective date(s) 04/15/2025

  3. 2025-04-29 Tennessee General Assembly

    Pub. Ch. 215

  4. 2025-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Governor.

  5. 2025-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly

    Transmitted to Governor for action.

  6. 2025-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by H. Speaker

  7. 2025-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Senate Speaker

  8. 2025-04-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Enrolled and ready for signatures

  9. 2025-04-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Concurred, Ayes 31, Nays 0 (Amendment 1 - HA0162)

  10. 2025-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Message Calendar for 4/3/2025

  11. 2025-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Comp. SB subst.

  12. 2025-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  13. 2025-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed H., as am., Ayes 94, Nays 0, PNV 0

  14. 2025-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0162)

  15. 2025-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Subst. for comp. HB.

  16. 2025-03-27 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  17. 2025-03-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.

  18. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  19. 2025-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  20. 2025-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Engrossed; ready for transmission to House

  21. 2025-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed Senate, Ayes 32, Nays 0

  22. 2025-03-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Consent Calendar 2 for 3/24/2025

  23. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  24. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee

  25. 2025-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action def. in Education Committee to 3/25/2025

  26. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/18/2025

  27. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  28. 2025-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  29. 2025-03-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  30. 2025-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Education Administration Subcommittee for 3/11/2025

  31. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Education Committee

  32. 2025-02-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Education Administration Subcommittee

  33. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, ref. to Education Committee

  34. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  35. 2025-02-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  36. 2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  37. 2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

ON MARCH 31, 2025, THE HOUSE SUBSTITUTED SENATE BILL 946 FOR HOUSE BILL 1088, ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1, AND PASSED SENATE BILL 946, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 makes the following revisio
ns:



Extends from 24 to 48 hours, the time period within which the LEA must notify parents and guardians
of the LEA's report to a state or local law enforcement agency
.



Provides that a report made
to a school resource officer, or an off-duty law enforcement officer who is serving as an armed school security officer, is not a report to a state or local law enforcement agency. If the school resource officer or armed school security officer subsequently reports the threat of violence or significantly disruptive behavior to the law enforcement agency that employs the school resource officer or armed school security officer or another law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the school for further investigation or for additional assistance in deescalating a situation occurring on the grounds of the public school or LEA, then the LEA or public charter school
must
notify parents and guardians in accordance with
the bill.



Requires each
local board of education
to
report at each quarterly meeting
(i) the
total number of incidents reported to a state and local law enforcement agency requiring notice to parents and guardians in accordance with
the bill
for the respective quarter; and
(ii) the
total number of incidents reported to a state and local law enforcement agency requiring notice to parents and guardians in accordance with
the bill
for the year to date.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
SENATE BILL 946
By Powers

HOUSE BILL 1088
By Sexton

HB1088
003193
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49,
relative to parental notification of safety concerns
at public schools.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, Chapter 6, Part 27, is amended by
adding the following as a new section:
(a) An LEA that receives, from a threat assessment team or any other source,
credible information regarding a threat of violence or significantly disruptive behavior
directed toward, or occurring on the grounds of, a public school in the LEA, and that
reports the threat or disruptive behavior to a state or local law enforcement agency, must
also notify the parents and guardians of students enrolled in the public school of the
same threat or disruptive behavior the LEA reported to law enforcement.
(b) The LEA shall notify parents and guardians within twenty-four (24) hours of
the LEA's report to a state or local law enforcement agency, and may be made using
existing communication methods for providing information to parents and guardians.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.