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SB1410 • 2026

Teachers, Principals and School Personnel

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 8-50-814; Title 49, Chapter 6 and Title 49, Chapter 3, Part 3, relative to public schools.

Children Education Labor
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Hensley, Alexander
Last action
2025-04-28
Official status
Comp. became Pub. Ch. 296
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

It is unclear how local boards will implement specific rules for taking parental leave.

Teachers' Leave and Substitute Teacher Rules

This law changes how long substitute teachers can replace regular teachers on leave and sets rules for when school employees must take their six weeks of paid parental leave.

What This Bill Does

  • Changes the limit from 20 to 30 consecutive days that a substitute teacher can replace a regular teacher without needing a teaching license.
  • Requires local schools to have policies about how long teachers can use their six weeks of paid leave after having or adopting a child, and mandates this leave be taken within one year of the event.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Substitute teachers who work for regular teachers on leave
  • School employees who have children and need parental leave

Terms To Know

extenuating circumstances
special reasons that make a rule less strict, like an emergency or unusual situation.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The law does not specify what constitutes 'extenuating circumstances'.

Amendments

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

Amendment 1-0 to HB1253

Plain English: The amendment changes the number of work weeks of paid leave for school employees from twenty to thirty and sets rules on how this leave can be taken.

  • Increases the amount of paid leave from twenty (20) weeks to thirty (30) weeks for school personnel.
  • Requires that six (6) consecutive weeks of the thirty-week leave must be taken either all at once or in non-consecutive one-week increments, with approval from the director of schools or public charter school director.
  • The amendment does not specify what constitutes 'extenuating circumstances' for taking leave non-consecutively.
  • It is unclear how this change will affect existing policies and practices in local boards of education and public charter governing bodies.
Amendment 1-0 to SB1410

Plain English: The amendment changes the number of work weeks for paid leave from twenty to thirty and sets rules on how this leave can be taken.

  • Increases the amount of paid leave from twenty (20) work weeks to thirty (30) work weeks.
  • Requires local boards of education and public charter governing bodies to adopt a policy that mandates six (6) consecutive work weeks of paid leave, except in special cases approved by school directors.
  • The amendment does not specify what constitutes 'extenuating circumstances'.
  • It is unclear how the change from twenty to thirty work weeks will be implemented and funded.

Bill History

  1. 2025-04-28 Tennessee General Assembly

    Comp. became Pub. Ch. 296

  2. 2025-04-28 Tennessee General Assembly

    Effective date(s) 07/01/2025

  3. 2025-04-28 Tennessee General Assembly

    Pub. Ch. 296

  4. 2025-04-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Governor.

  5. 2025-04-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Transmitted to Governor for his action.

  6. 2025-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Senate Speaker

  7. 2025-04-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by H. Speaker

  8. 2025-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly

    Enrolled; ready for sig. of H. Speaker.

  9. 2025-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  10. 2025-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Companion House Bill substituted

  11. 2025-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed Senate, Ayes 32, Nays 0

  12. 2025-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Amendment withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - SA0277)

  13. 2025-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate substituted House Bill for companion Senate Bill.

  14. 2025-04-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/7/2025

  15. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0

  16. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Received from House, Passed on First Consideration

  17. 2025-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.

  18. 2025-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed H., as am., Ayes 87, Nays 2, PNV 7

  19. 2025-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0102)

  20. 2025-03-20 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/24/2025

  21. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  22. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  23. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/20/2025

  24. 2025-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  25. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  26. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/18/2025

  27. 2025-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action def. in Education Committee to 3/18/2025

  28. 2025-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/11/2025

  29. 2025-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  30. 2025-02-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Education Administration Subcommittee for 3/4/2025

  31. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Education Committee

  32. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Education Administration Subcommittee

  33. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, ref. to Education Committee

  34. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  35. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  36. 2025-02-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  37. 2025-02-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

ON MARCH 24,
2025, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 1253, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 revises the provisions in the bill relative to the six work weeks of paid leave to, instead, require e
ach local board of education and public charter governing body

to
adopt a policy that requires the six work weeks of paid leave
be used
within 12 months of the birth or stillbirth of the employee's child or the employee's adoption of a newly placed minor child
and
be
either:



Taken consecutively, except in extenuating circumstances, as determined and approved by the director of schools or the director of the public charter school, as applicable
; or



Taken non-consecutively, but in increments of no less than one week
.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
HOUSE BILL 1253
By Alexander

SENATE BILL 1410
By Hensley

SB1410
003235
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 8-
50-814; Title 49, Chapter 6 and Title 49, Chapter
3, Part 3, relative to public schools.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-3-312(a), is amended by deleting
the language "twenty (20)" and substituting instead the language "thirty (30)".
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 8-50-814(d), is amended by deleting
subdivision (2) and substituting instead the following:
(2) The six (6) work weeks of paid leave granted pursuant to this section must
be taken consecutively, except in extenuating circumstances, as determined and
approved by the director of schools or the director of the public charter school, as
applicable, and must be used within twelve (12) months of the birth or stillbirth of the
employee's child or the employee's adoption of a newly placed minor child.
SECTION 3. This act takes effect July 1, 2025, the public welfare requiring it.