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HB2343 • 2026

Teachers, Principals and School Personnel

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, relative to leave for teachers.

Education
Active

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

Sponsor
Harris, Akbari
Last action
2026-04-09
Official status
Received from House, Passed on First Consideration
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide details on the cost or impact of the bill's changes on substitute teacher needs.

Teachers' Leave Act

This bill changes how much personal and professional leave teachers in Tennessee can earn each year.

What This Bill Does

  • Changes the amount of personal and professional leave a teacher earns from one day for every half-year to two days for every half-year.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Public school teachers in Tennessee
  • Local education agencies that employ these teachers

Terms To Know

Personal and professional leave
Time off for teachers to use for personal or professional reasons, separate from sick days.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify how much it will cost local education agencies.
  • It's unclear how many additional substitute teachers might be needed due to the changes in leave policies.

Amendments

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

Amendment 1-0 to HB2343

Plain English: The amendment changes the amount of sick leave teachers can take based on their contract length.

  • Teachers with ten-month contracts get up to eight (8) days of sick leave per year.
  • Teachers with eleven-month contracts get up to nine (9) days of sick leave per year.
  • Teachers with twelve-month contracts get up to ten (10) days of sick leave per year.
  • The amendment does not specify how personal and professional leave is transferred to sick leave, which may need further explanation or context.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    Received from House, Passed on First Consideration

  2. 2026-04-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.

  3. 2026-04-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  4. 2026-04-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed H., as am., Ayes 88, Nays 2, PNV 2

  5. 2026-04-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0823)

  6. 2026-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/6/2026

  7. 2026-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/2/2026

  8. 2026-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  9. 2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  10. 2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee

  11. 2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  12. 2026-03-17 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  13. 2026-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  14. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  15. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  16. 2026-03-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action def. in Education Committee to 3/17/2026

  17. 2026-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/10/2026

  18. 2026-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Education Committee

  19. 2026-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  20. 2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/10/2026

  21. 2026-03-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action def. in Education Committee to 3/10/2026

  22. 2026-03-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  23. 2026-03-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Approved by Delayed Bills Committee

  24. 2026-02-25 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  25. 2026-02-17 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  26. 2026-02-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Education Administration Subcommittee for 2/17/2026

  27. 2026-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Education Administration Subcommittee

  28. 2026-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, ref. to Education Committee

  29. 2026-02-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  30. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  31. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Refer to Senate Delayed Bills Committee

  32. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

ON APRIL 6,
2026, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 2343, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 e
stablishes caps on the amount of sick leave that public school teachers may accumulate during a year, as follows:

(1)
Up to eight
days per year for employees with
10
-month contracts
;

(2) U
p to nine days per year for employees with
11
-month contracts
;
and

(3) U
p to ten days per year for employees with
12
-month contracts
.

Teachers will continue to accumulate sick live at the present law rate of one day for each month employed.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
SENATE BILL 2669
By Akbari

HOUSE BILL 2343
By Harris
HB2343
012645
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49,
relative to leave for teachers.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-5-711(a), is amended by deleting
the first sentence of the subsection and substituting:
Under policies adopted by the local board of education, a teacher must be
allowed personal and professional leave earned at the rate of two (2) days for each one-
half (½) year employed.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-5-205(a), is amended by deleting
"two (2) days" and substituting "four (4) days".
SECTION 3. This act takes effect July 1, 2026, the public welfare requiring it.