Local Education Agencies

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Rules for Military Children's School Enrollment

This bill changes how local education agencies handle enrollment and services for children of military service members who move to Tennessee due to military orders.

What This Bill Does

• Requires that a student or their parent provide proof of being the dependent child of a service member within 60 days after the first day of school or one year from when the service member reports to duty in Tennessee, whichever is later.
• Ensures that if a military child has special education plans (like Section 504, IEP, or IFSP), the local education agency must provide necessary services right away upon enrollment.
• Allows high school students who are dependent children of service members and move due to military orders to stay in their current high school until graduation or withdrawal.

Who It Names or Affects

• Local Education Agencies (LEAs) in Tennessee
• Children of military service members moving to Tennessee on military orders

Terms To Know

LEA

Local Education Agency, which is a school district or other organization responsible for providing public education.

Section 504 plan

A plan under the Rehabilitation Act that provides accommodations and services to students with disabilities.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify what happens if a parent fails to provide proof within the required time frame.
• It is unclear how this act will be enforced or monitored by local education agencies.

Official Summary Text

Present law requires that a board of education allow a student who does not reside within the boundaries of the school district to enroll in a public school within the school district if:

(1) The student is the dependent child of a service member who is being relocated to this state on military orders and will, upon relocation, be a resident of the school district, but will not be a resident of the school district when the school distric
t conducts an open enrollment period; and

(2) The service member provides the school district with documentation evidencing that the student is the dependent child of the service member and that the service member is being relocated to this state on military orders and will, upon relocation, be
a resident of the school district.

Present law requires that each board of education adopt policies to establish a reasonable period of time within which a student permitted to enroll and attend a public school under (1) and (2) must provide proof of residency within the school district.

This bill replaces the requirement that school boards adopt policies as described above with the following statutory policy:

(1
) The student or the student's parent is required to provide the documentation described in (2) to the school district no later than 60 days from the last day of the first school year in which the student enrolls in the LEA or within one year from the da
te on which the service member reported for duty in this state, whichever is later;

(2) If the student has an active Section 504 plan, an individualized family service plan, or an IEP, then the LEA must take the necessary steps to ensure that necessary services are in place when the student enrolls; and

(3) If a student is enrolled in a high school under the jurisdiction of an LEA in grade 11 or 12 and is the dependent child of a service member who relocates on military orders resulting in the student no longer residing in the school district due to th
e relocation, then the LEA shall allow the student to remain enrolled in the same high school until the student graduates or withdraws.

ON MARCH 26, 2026, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 1817, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 r
etains present law that requires each board of education to adopt policies to establish a reasonable period of time within which a student permitted to enroll and attend a public school as a transferring dependent child of a service member must provide pr
oof of residency within the school district

This amendment adds a requirement that an
LEA allow a student to enroll in a school in the LEA if:

(
1
) The student is a dependent child of a service member who is relocated on military orders;

(
2
)

Due to the relocation on military orders, the student resides within the school district at the time of enrollment in the LEA; and

(
3
)

The student's parent intends to reside in the zone for the school for which the student is seeking to enroll no later than one calendar year after the date on which the student enrolled.

This amendment requires a
student's parent
to
provide proof that the student is a resident of the zoned school in which the student is enrolled pursuant to this
amendment
no later than one calendar year from the date on which the student enrolled in the LEA.

If a parent does not provide proof within one calendar year from the student's enrollment, then the LEA may require the student to transfer to the school for which the student is zoned to attend.

Current Bill Text

HOUSE BILL 1725
By Maberry

SENATE BILL 1817
By Powers
SB1817
010562
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49,
relative to dependent children of service members.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-3101, is amended by deleting
subsection (c) and substituting:
(c) The student or the student's parent shall provide the documentation
described in subdivision (b)(2) to the school district no later than sixty (60) days from the
last day of the first school year in which the student enrolls in the LEA or within one (1)
year from the date on which the service member reported for duty in this state,
whichever is later.
(d) If a student enrolls in a public school pursuant to subsection (b) and the
student has an active Section 504 plan developed under Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. § 794), an individualized family service plan under 20
U.S.C. § 1436, or an individualized education plan under the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq.), then the LEA shall take the necessary steps to
ensure that necessary services are in place when the student enrolls.
(e) Notwithstanding another law to the contrary, if a student is enrolled in a high
school under the jurisdiction of an LEA in grade eleven (11) or twelve (12) and is the
dependent child of a service member who relocates on military orders resulting in the
student no longer residing in the school district due to the relocation, then the LEA shall
allow the student to remain enrolled in the same high school until the student graduates
or withdraws.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 2026, the public welfare requiring it.