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SB0753 • 2026

Local Education Agencies

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, Chapter 6, relative to early childhood education.

Children Education Labor
Active

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

Sponsor
Yager, Hale
Last action
2025-04-29
Official status
Effective date(s) 04/21/2025
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary and text do not provide specific details on how LEAs should determine the actual costs of enrolling and attending the program, leaving this as an open question.

Local Education Agencies' Early Childhood Program Changes

This bill allows local education agencies to enroll their employees' children in voluntary pre-kindergarten programs if space is available after at-risk children are enrolled and permits the agency to charge tuition for this enrollment.

What This Bill Does

  • Allows local education agencies (LEAs) to accept applications from their own employees' children into voluntary pre-kindergarten programs, provided there is still room after enrolling at-risk children.
  • Requires LEAs to prioritize enrolling at-risk children before considering other applicants like the children of employees.
  • Permits LEAs to charge tuition and fees for employee children enrolled in the program if space allows, but limits these charges to the actual costs incurred by the LEA.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Local Education Agencies (LEAs) that run voluntary pre-kindergarten programs.
  • Employees of these local education agencies and their children who are four years old by August 15th.
  • Children identified as at-risk or eligible for free/reduced lunch.

Terms To Know

Local Education Agencies (LEAs)
School districts or other organizations that manage public schools and educational programs in a specific area.
At-risk children
Children who are more likely to face challenges such as poverty, health issues, or family problems that could affect their education negatively.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify how LEAs should determine the actual costs of enrolling and attending the program.
  • It is unclear if there are any restrictions on how much tuition can be charged beyond it being limited to the LEA's costs.

Bill History

  1. 2025-04-29 Tennessee General Assembly

    Effective date(s) 04/21/2025

  2. 2025-04-29 Tennessee General Assembly

    Pub. Ch. 225

  3. 2025-04-29 Tennessee General Assembly

    Comp. became Pub. Ch. 225

  4. 2025-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Governor.

  5. 2025-04-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Transmitted to Governor for action.

  6. 2025-04-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by H. Speaker

  7. 2025-04-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Senate Speaker

  8. 2025-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly

    Enrolled and ready for signatures

  9. 2025-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  10. 2025-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Subst. for comp. HB.

  11. 2025-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Comp. SB subst.

  12. 2025-04-03 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  13. 2025-04-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. Placed on Consent Calendar for 4/7/2025

  14. 2025-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/3/2025

  15. 2025-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee

  16. 2025-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Engrossed; ready for transmission to House

  17. 2025-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed Senate, Ayes 30, Nays 0

  18. 2025-03-28 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Consent Calendar 2 for 3/31/2025

  19. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee

  20. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Education Committee for 4/1/2025

  21. 2025-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  22. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  23. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  24. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal K-12 Subcommittee for 3/25/2025

  25. 2025-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c K-12 Subcommittee to 3/25/2025

  26. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  27. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal K-12 Subcommittee for 3/18/2025

  28. 2025-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c K-12 Subcommittee to 3/18/2025

  29. 2025-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal K-12 Subcommittee for 3/11/2025

  30. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Education Committee

  31. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  32. 2025-02-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  33. 2025-01-28 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c K-12 Subcommittee

  34. 2025-01-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Ref. to Education Committee

  35. 2025-01-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C held on desk, pending appointment of Standing Committees

  36. 2025-01-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  37. 2024-11-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

Abstract summarizes the bill.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
HOUSE BILL 6
By Hale

SENATE BILL 753
By Yager

SB0753
000090
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49,
Chapter 6, relative to early childhood education.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-104, is amended by deleting
subdivision (c)(2) and substituting:
(2) If the number of at-risk children seeking to enroll in an LEA's voluntary pre-
kindergarten program on the date of the initial enrollment deadline does not meet the
maximum class size of the pre-kindergarten classroom provided by the LEA as part of
the LEA's voluntary pre-kindergarten program, then the LEA may enroll children who are
not at-risk children, but who:
(A) Reside within the geographic area served by the LEA and who are:
(i) Four (4) years of age, with or without a disability, on or before
August 15;
(ii) Three (3) years of age on or before August 15 and:
(a) Who have been in the Tennessee Early Intervention
System (TEIS); or
(b) Who are screened and identified as educationally at-
risk, as determined pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq.); or
(iii) Three (3) years of age on or before August 15, who are
members of families with incomes that meet the eligibility requirements

- 2 - 000090

for free or reduced-price lunch, as determined pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §
1771; or
(B)
(i) Reside outside the geographic area served by the LEA;
(ii) Are children of a parent employed by the LEA; and
(iii) Are four (4) years of age on or before August 15.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-104, is amended by adding the
following as a new subsection:
(f) An LEA that authorizes a child to enroll in the LEA's voluntary pre-
kindergarten program pursuant to subdivision (c)(2)(B) may charge the child's parent
tuition and fees in an amount that is no more than the LEA's costs of the child enrolling
and attending the program.
SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-107(d), is amended by adding ",
except as authorized pursuant to § 49-6-104(f)" after "§§ 49-6-103 — 49-6-110".
SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.