Education, Dept. of

Plain English Breakdown

The bill does not provide specific details about the allocation process or consequences if funding is insufficient.

School Counselor Funding Act

This act requires Tennessee's Department of Education to provide funding for local education agencies (LEAs) to hire full-time licensed professional school counselors at high schools with at least 600 students in grades 10-12, starting from the 2025-2026 school year.

What This Bill Does

• Requires the Department of Education to allocate funds to each local education agency (LEA) for hiring one full-time licensed professional school counselor at high schools with at least 600 students in grades 10 through 12, starting from the 2025-2026 school year.
• Allows LEAs that already have part-time school counselors to use this funding to make those positions full-time instead of hiring new ones.
• Permits LEAs that meet a specific student-to-counselor ratio (one counselor for every 250 students) to use the funds to support their existing counseling staff without needing to hire more counselors.
• Specifies that these funds are additional and do not replace other funding sources, such as those used in the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement formula (TISA).
• Requires the state board to create rules about how school counselors should spend at least 70% of their time working directly with high school students.

Who It Names or Affects

• Local education agencies (LEAs) that have high schools with at least 600 students in grades 10 through 12.
• High schools and the students they serve, particularly those who will benefit from additional counseling services.
• Licensed professional school counselors working in Tennessee's public high schools.

Terms To Know

Local Education Agency (LEA)

An organization responsible for providing educational programs and services to students within a specific geographic area, such as a school district or charter school network.

Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement formula (TISA)

A funding formula used by Tennessee's Department of Education to allocate state funds to local education agencies based on student enrollment and other factors.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how the required funding will be allocated or what happens if there is insufficient funding.
• It remains unclear whether this act will lead to a significant increase in counseling services for students who need them most.

Official Summary Text

Starting with the 2025-2026 sch
ool year
,
this bill requires the department
of education
to allocate to each local education agency (LEA) sufficient funds to employ one full-time licensed professional school counselor position at each high school in the LEA that enrolls at least 600 stud
ents in
grades 10-12
.

If an LEA employs one or more part-time licensed professional school counselors at a high school that enrolls at least 600 students
in grades 10-12
, then this bill authorizes the LEA to use any funds received that are referenced abo
ve, to employ a part-time licensed professional school counselor on a full-time basis. This bill clarifies that an LEA that converts a part-time licensed professional school counselor position to a full-time position according to the previous sentence, s
a
tisfies the requirement that each LEA must employ one full-time licensed professional school counselor for each position funded according to this bill.

If an LEA employs one full-time licensed professional school counselor for every 250 student members
of the LEA, then this bill authorizes the LEA to use any funds received according to the above to supplement the cost to the LEA of employing the number of full-time licensed professional school counselors required to meet the specified ratio. However,
t
his bill does not require an LEA that employs one full-time licensed professional school counselor position for every 250 students of the LEA to employ any additional full-time licensed professional school counselor positions beyond the number required fo
r
the LEA to meet the specified ratio.

CLASSIFICATION AS ADDITIONAL LEA FUNDS

This bill provides that the funds assigned to an LEA pursuant to this bill are additional LEA funds for purposes of the Tennessee investment in student achievement formula (TI
SA).

RULEMAKING

This bill authorizes the state board to make rules to establish the responsibilities of a full-time licensed professional school counselor whose position is funded according to this bill. However, this bill requires the state board to m
ake rules to establish the amount of time each full-time licensed professional school counselor must dedicate to providing
high school
students with counseling services as long as each school counselor dedicates at least 70%
o
f their time working directly
with
high school
students.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 341
By Lowe

HOUSE BILL 1130
By Farmer

HB1130
000908
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49,
relative to school counselors.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, Chapter 3, Part 1, is amended by
adding the following as a new section:
(a)
(1) Subject to appropriation, the department shall allocate to each LEA
sufficient funds for the LEA to employ one (1) full-time licensed professional
school counselor position at each high school in the LEA that enrolls at least six
hundred (600) students in grades ten through twelve (10-12).
(2) If an LEA employs one (1) or more part-time licensed professional
school counselors at a high school that enrolls at least six hundred (600)
students in grades ten through twelve (10-12), then the LEA may use any funds
received pursuant to subdivision (a)(1) to employ the part-time licensed
professional school counselor on a full-time basis. An LEA that converts a part-
time licensed professional school counselor position to a full-time position
pursuant to this subdivision (a)(2) satisfies the requirement in subsection (b).
(3) If an LEA employs one (1) full-time licensed professional school
counselor for every two hundred fifty (250) student members of the LEA, then the
LEA may use any funds received pursuant to subdivision (a)(1) to supplant the
cost to the LEA of employing the number of full-time licensed professional school
counselors required to meet the specified ratio.

- 2 - 000908

(b) Each LEA shall employ one (1) full-time licensed professional school
counselor at each high school for which the LEA receives funding pursuant to this
section. This subsection (b) does not require an LEA that employs one (1) full-time
licensed professional school counselor position for every two hundred fifty (250) student
members of the LEA to employ any additional full-time licensed professional school
counselor positions beyond the number required for the LEA to meet the specified ratio.
(c) The funds allocated to an LEA pursuant to this section are in addition to the
funds allocated to the LEA for purposes of the TISA.
(d)
(1) The state board may promulgate rules, in consultation with the
department, to establish the roles and responsibilities required of a full-time
licensed professional school counselor whose position is funded pursuant to this
section that exceed those required of school counselors in § 49-6-303.
(2) The state board shall promulgate rules, in consultation with the
department, to establish the amount of time each full-time licensed professional
school counselor whose position is funded pursuant to this section must dedicate
to providing high school students the preventative and developmental counseling
services required in § 49-6-303(b), one (1) or more of the counseling and
guidance services listed in § 49-5-302(b), and any of the services required to
comply with any additional roles and responsibilities established by the state
board pursuant to subdivision (d)(1); provided, that each full-time licensed
professional school counselor must dedicate at least seventy percent (70%) of
the counselor's time to working directly with high school students.

- 3 - 000908

SECTION 2. This act is not an appropriation of funds, and funds shall not be obligated
or expended pursuant to this act unless the funds are specifically appropriated by the general
assembly.
SECTION 3. For purposes of promulgating rules, this act takes effect upon becoming a
law, the public welfare requiring it. For all other purposes, this act takes effect July 1, 2025, the
public welfare requiring it, and applies to the 2025-2026 school year and each school year
thereafter.