HB 485 - SB 517
FISCAL NOTE
Fiscal Review Committee
Tennessee General Assembly
February 14, 2025
Fiscal Analyst: Alan Hampton | Email: alan.hampton@capitol.tn.gov | Phone: 615-741-2564
HB 485 - SB 517
SUMMARY OF BILL: Authorizes a local education agency (LEA) or public charter school
to provide up to four days of the required 180 days of classroom instruction via hybrid learning in
the event of dangerous or extreme weather conditions or an emergency. Requires an LEA or public
charter school that provides hybrid learning to provide a certain number of hours of instruction,
track daily student attendance, and to make services required by a student’s individualized education
program (IEP) available to the student on hybrid learning days.
If an LEA or public charter school uses the maximum amount of days authorized for hybrid
learning in a school year, authorizes the LEA or public charter school to request the Commissioner
of the Department of Education (DOE) to authorize additional days for hybrid learning in the event
of a natural disaster or serious outbreaks of illness affecting or endangering students or staff.
FISCAL IMPACT:
NOT SIGNIFICANT
Assumptions:
• Pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-6-3004(i), an LEA:
o May provide up to two days each semester of the required 180 days of classroom
instruction via remote instruction;
o May require a class, school, or all schools of the LEA to utilize remote instruction in
the event of dangerous or extreme weather conditions or of serious outbreaks of
illness; and
o That provides remote instruction must provide a certain number of hours of
instruction each day, implement policies and procedures for tracking student
attendance, and make services required by a student’s IEP available to the student
on days that remote instruction is available.
• Per the proposed legislation, "hybrid learning" means an instructional day in which some
students participate in-person classroom instruction and some students participate in
remote classroom instruction.
• The proposed legislation authorizes an LEA or public charter school to have up to four
days of hybrid instruction without applying to the Commissioner of DOE for a waiver or
using stockpile days to cancel instruction.
• It is unknown which schools have the necessary resources to conduct remote learning for
students. However, it is assumed that only schools which have the capacity to administer
remote learning will elect to use the hybrid learning option in the event of dangerous or
extreme weather conditions or an emergency.
HB 485 - SB 517 2
• Schools with the capacity to implement hybrid learning will be able to do so within existing
resources, without a significant increase in local expenditures.
• Since hybrid instruction includes both in-person and remote instruction, any cost savings
from utilizing hybrid instruction is estimated to be not significant.
• The Commissioner of DOE will consider any increase in requests for hybrid learning days
utilizing existing staff and resources; any fiscal impact is considered not significant.
CERTIFICATION:
The information contained herein is true and correct to the best of my knowledge.
Bojan Savic, Executive Director