SB1044 • 2026

Local Education Agencies

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, relative to public schools.

Children Education Elections Labor Parental Rights

Did Not Pass

The latest official action shows that this bill did not move forward in that session.

Sponsor: Bowling, Fritts
Last action: 2025-03-19
Official status: Failed in Senate Education Committee
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill's text does not specify the exact number of students affected, nor does it detail the financial impact on federal funding with certainty.

Student Enrollment Requirements for Public Schools

This bill requires parents or guardians enrolling their children in public schools to provide certain documents proving citizenship or residency, unless they pay an amount equal to the local funding per student.

What This Bill Does

Requires parents or guardians to submit specific documents when enrolling their child in a public school.
Lists acceptable documents such as birth certificates, voter registration and ID cards, passports, and military IDs.
Exempts those who have previously submitted the required documentation from having to do so again.
Allows exemptions for employees of the school or if they pay an amount equal to local funding per student.
Requires schools to keep records that these documents were submitted upon enrollment.

Who It Names or Affects

Parents and guardians enrolling their children in public schools.
Local Education Agencies (LEAs) and public charter schools.

Terms To Know

LEA: Local Education Agency, which refers to a local administrative unit responsible for providing public education in Tennessee.
TISA formula: The Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement formula, used to determine the amount of state and local funds generated per student.

Limits and Unknowns

It is unclear how many students will be affected by this requirement.
The bill's impact on federal funding for schools cannot be accurately predicted due to multiple unknown factors.
The exact financial impact on school districts from changes in enrollment and tuition payments is uncertain.

Amendments

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

SA0172

Amendment 1-0 to SB1044

Plain English: The amendment changes Tennessee Code Annotated to allow local education agencies to accept additional types of documents proving a student's legal status in the U.S.

Removes '; or' from subdivision (a)(3) and '.' from subdivision (a)(4).
Adds a new subdivision (a)(5) that allows any other official documentation proving a student’s lawful presence in the United States.

The exact nature of documents covered under the new subdivision (a)(5) is not specified, leaving some uncertainty about what types of proof will be accepted.

Bill History

2025-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly
Taken off notice for cal in s/c K-12 Subcommittee of Education Committee
2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly
Failed in Senate Education Committee
2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on s/c cal K-12 Subcommittee for 3/25/2025
2025-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly
Action Def. in s/c K-12 Subcommittee 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 s/c cal K-12 Subcommittee for 3/18/2025
2025-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly
Action Def. in s/c K-12 Subcommittee to 3/18/2025
2025-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on s/c cal K-12 Subcommittee for 3/11/2025
2025-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly
Sponsor(s) Added.
2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly
Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Education Committee
2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly
Introduced, Passed on First Consideration
2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly
Assigned to s/c K-12 Subcommittee
2025-02-06 Tennessee General Assembly
P2C, ref. to Education Committee
2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly
Filed for introduction
2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly
Intro., P1C.
2025-02-03 Tennessee General Assembly
Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

Present law specifies that t
he public schools are free to all persons residing
in Tennessee
who are above five years of age, or who will become five years of age on or before August 15.
Subject to certain
exceptions described below, this bill requires
a parent or guardian who wishes to enroll the
ir
student into an LEA or public charter school
to
submit one of the following documents to the LEA or public charter school upon enrollment of the student:

(1)
A copy of the student's birth certificate that lists a place of birth within the U
.
S
.
or legal territories;

(2) A copy of a current voter registration issued to the parent or guardian and the parent's or guardian's valid driver license or photo identific
ation license;

(3) A copy of a U
.
S
.
passport issued to the student, parent, or guardian; or

(4) A copy of a veterans affairs identification card, a U
.
S
.
military identification, or a DD-214 issued to the parent or guardian.

A parent or guardian of a
student
will
not
be
required to submit a document
described in (1)
–
(4)
to an LEA or public charter school if
the parent or guardian
:

(1)
P
reviously submitted a document
described in (1)
–
(4)
to the LEA or public charter school;

(2)
I
s employed by t
he LEA or public charter school
; or

(3) P
ays the LEA or public charter school in an amount equal to the amount representing the per pupil state and local funds generated and required through the
TISA
formula for the LEA in which the participating student
resides.

This bill requires
LEA
s and
public charter school
s

to
maintain a record that a document described in
(1)
–
(4)
was submitted upon registration of a student
.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

HOUSE BILL 746
By Fritts

SENATE BILL 1044
By Bowling

SB1044
002132
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49,
relative to public schools.

WHEREAS, one of the duties of the General Assembly is to protect the citizen and
public funding base from costs that should not be borne by public funding; and
WHEREAS, Article XI, Section 12 of the Constitution of Tennessee clearly assigns
authority to the General Assembly to provide for the maintenance, support, and eligibility
standards for a system of free public schools; and
WHEREAS, the provisions of the constitution guaranteeing equal protection of the law to
all citizens require that the educational opportunities provided by the system of free public
schools be substantially equal; and
WHEREAS, the ability to maintain a system of free public schools is jeopardized if the
eligibility standards are interpreted to include all citizens of the world who are not Tennessee
citizens; and
WHEREAS, it is common to require information regarding Tennessee students as they
enroll to participate in free public schools and while children may attend public schools outside
their district, determining the residence of the child is important for numerous reasons; and
WHEREAS, it is a reasonable and fiscally responsible approach to require an investment
in the education costs for foreign children who are utilizing our system of free public schools;
and
WHEREAS, the General Assembly finds that this reasonable and fiscally responsible
approach provides all children an opportunity to attend schools receiving public funds in

- 2 - 002132

Tennessee and appropriately assigns responsibility to citizens of foreign nations to help bear
the cost; now, therefore,
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, Chapter 6, Part 31, is amended by
adding the following as a new section:
(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), a parent or guardian who wishes to
enroll the parent's or guardian's student into an LEA or public charter school shall submit
one (1) of the following documents to the LEA or public charter school upon enrollment
of the student:
(1) A copy of the student's birth certificate that lists a place of birth within
the United States or legal territories;
(2) A copy of a current voter registration issued to the parent or guardian
and the parent's or guardian's valid driver license or photo identification license;
(3) A copy of a United States passport issued to the student, parent, or
guardian; or
(4) A copy of a veterans affairs identification card, a United States
military identification, or a DD-214 issued to the parent or guardian.
(b) A parent or guardian of a student is not required to submit a document to an
LEA or public charter school under subsection (a) if:
(1) The parent or guardian has previously submitted a document
pursuant to subsection (a) to the LEA or public charter school; or
(2) The parent or guardian is employed by the LEA or public charter
school.
(c) Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (b), a parent or guardian of a student
may register a student without presenting a document described in subsection (a) if the

- 3 - 002132

parent or guardian pays the LEA or public charter school in an amount equal to the
amount representing the per pupil state and local funds generated and required through
the Tennessee investment in student achievement formula for the LEA in which the
participating student resides.
(d) An LEA or public charter school shall maintain a record that a document
described in subsection (a) was submitted upon registration of a student. An LEA or
public charter school is not required to retain a copy of the document provided pursuant
to subsection (a).
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-3001, is amended by deleting
subsection (a) and substituting:
(a) Except as provided in SECTION 1, subsection (c) of this act, public schools
are free to all persons residing within the state who are above five (5) years of age, or
who will become five (5) years of age on or before August 15.
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it,
and applies to the 2025-2026 school year and each school year thereafter.