SB0946 • 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

Active

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

Sponsor: Powers, Sexton
Last action: 2025-04-29
Official status: Effective date(s) 04/15/2025
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary text does not provide information about quarterly reporting requirements, which was included in the candidate explanation.

Parental Notification of Safety Concerns at Public Schools

This bill changes how local education agencies in Tennessee must inform parents and guardians about safety concerns reported to law enforcement within 48 hours.

What This Bill Does

Extends the time for local education agencies (LEAs) to notify parents and guardians from 24 hours to 48 hours after reporting a threat of violence or significantly disruptive behavior to state or local law enforcement.

Who It Names or Affects

Local education agencies in Tennessee
Parents and guardians of students enrolled in public schools

Terms To Know

LEA: Local Education Agency, which is responsible for managing public schools.
School Resource Officer: An officer employed by a law enforcement agency but assigned to work in a school.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill does not specify what happens if an LEA fails to notify parents within the required time frame.
It is unclear how this change will affect communication between schools and families about safety issues.

Amendments

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

HA0162

Amendment 1-0 to HB1088

Plain English: The amendment adds new requirements for reporting safety concerns to parents, changes how certain reports are classified, and extends the time limit for notifying parents about threats or disruptive behavior.

Adds new subsections that clarify when a report made to a school resource officer or an armed security officer is not considered a report to law enforcement agencies.
Requires local boards of education to report quarterly on incidents requiring parental notification due to threats or disruptive behavior.
Increases the time limit for notifying parents and guardians about safety concerns from 24 hours to 48 hours.

The amendment text does not specify how the new reporting requirements will be implemented in practice.

Bill History

2025-04-29 Tennessee General Assembly
Effective date(s) 04/15/2025
2025-04-29 Tennessee General Assembly
Pub. Ch. 215
2025-04-29 Tennessee General Assembly
Comp. became Pub. Ch. 215
2025-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly
Signed by Governor.
2025-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly
Transmitted to Governor for action.
2025-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly
Signed by H. Speaker
2025-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly
Signed by Senate Speaker
2025-04-04 Tennessee General Assembly
Enrolled and ready for signatures
2025-04-03 Tennessee General Assembly
Concurred, Ayes 31, Nays 0 (Amendment 1 - HA0162)
2025-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on Senate Message Calendar for 4/3/2025
2025-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly
Passed H., as am., Ayes 94, Nays 0, PNV 0
2025-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly
H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0162)
2025-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly
Subst. for comp. HB.
2025-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly
Comp. SB subst.
2025-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly
Sponsor(s) Added.
2025-03-27 Tennessee General Assembly
Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
2025-03-27 Tennessee General Assembly
H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/31/2025
2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/27/2025
2025-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly
Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee
2025-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly
Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
2025-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly
Passed Senate, Ayes 32, Nays 0
2025-03-21 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on Senate Consent Calendar 2 for 3/24/2025
2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly
Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee
2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/25/2025
2025-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly
Action def. in Education Committee to 3/25/2025
2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on Senate Education Committee calendar for 3/19/2025
2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/18/2025
2025-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly
Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Education Committee
2025-03-10 Tennessee General Assembly
Sponsor(s) Added.
2025-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on s/c cal Education Administration Subcommittee for 3/11/2025
2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly
Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Education Committee
2025-02-11 Tennessee General Assembly
Assigned to s/c Education Administration Subcommittee
2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly
Introduced, Passed on First Consideration
2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly
P2C, ref. to Education Committee
2025-02-06 Tennessee General Assembly
Intro., P1C.
2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly
Filed for introduction
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

HOUSE BILL 1088
By Sexton

SENATE BILL 946
By Powers

SB0946
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.