<BillNo> <Sponsor>
HOUSE BILL 355
By Powers
HB0355
000935
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AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49,
relative to virtual school students.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, Chapter 16, Part 2, is amended by
adding the following as a new section:
(a) If a public school established under the jurisdiction of an LEA is a member of
an organization or an association that regulates interscholastic athletic competition, and
if such organization or association establishes or maintains eligibility requirements for
virtual school students to participate in interscholastic athletics at a member school, then
the LEA shall permit participation in interscholastic athletics at the member schools by a
virtual school student who satisfies the eligibility requirements established by the
organization or association.
(b) If a public school established under the jurisdiction of an LEA offers students
the opportunity to participate in interscholastic athletic competition without the school
being a member of an organization or an association that regulates interscholastic
athletic competition, then the LEA shall permit participation in interscholastic athletics at
such school by a virtual school student who is zoned and is otherwise eligible to attend
the school.
(c) This section does not guarantee that a virtual school student trying out for an
interscholastic athletics team will make the team, nor does it supplant the authority of
coaches or other school officials in deciding who makes the team. This section is
intended to guarantee only that the virtual school student is not prohibited from trying out
for an interscholastic athletics team, if the student is otherwise eligible to participate
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under the rules of the organization or association, solely by reason of the student's
status as a virtual school student.
(d) This section must not be construed to limit or supplant the authority of the
organization or association to determine eligibility and to establish, modify, and enforce
its rules and eligibility requirements, including those applicable to virtual school students.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.