Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

Tennessee Senate Bill SB0699 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2	HOUSE BILL 682
3	3	By Jones J
4	4
5	5	SENATE BILL 699
6	6	By Kyle
7	7
8	8
9	9	SB0699
10	10	002308
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13	13	AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 33;
14	14	Title 37 and Title 49, relative to students of
15	15	schools where an act of mass violence occurs.
16	16
17	17	BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
18	18	SECTION 1. This act is known and may be cited as the "Student Comfort through
19	19	Alternative Restorative Environments (CARE) Act".
20	20	SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-16-105, is amended by deleting
21	21	the section and substituting:
22	22	(a)
23	23	(1) Except as provided in subsection (b):
24	24	(A) This chapter does not require local education agencies to
25	25	offer or participate in a virtual education program; and
26	26	(B) Participation in a virtual education program by a student is at
27	27	the discretion of the LEA in which the student is enrolled or zoned to
28	28	attend.
29	29	(2) Students who are receiving hospital or homebound instruction are
30	30	eligible to participate in a virtual education program that is offered by the LEA.
31	31	(b)
32	32	(1) As used in this subsection (b), "mass violence" means any act that
33	33	leads to serious bodily injury, as defined in § 39-11-106, or death, of two (2) or
34	34	more persons.
35	35	(2) Each local board of education and each governing body of a public
36	36	charter school shall adopt and implement a policy that allows a student who is
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38	38
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41	41	enrolled in a school of the LEA or a public charter school at the time that an act
42	42	of mass violence is committed at the school to participate in a virtual education
43	43	program for no less than thirty-one (31) calendar days from the date that in-
44	44	person learning first resumes at the school after the act of mass violence is
45	45	committed.
46	46	(3) A student's participation in a virtual school program pursuant to this
47	47	subsection (b) is voluntary pursuant to the request of the student's parent,
48	48	guardian, person who has custody of the student, individual who has caregiving
49	49	authority under § 49-6-3001, or the student if the student is at least eighteen (18)
50	50	years of age.
51	51	(4) A policy adopted pursuant to this subsection (b) must provide that a
52	52	student who voluntarily participates in a virtual school program pursuant to this
53	53	subsection (b):
54	54	(A) Is not subject to academic or other penalization based solely
55	55	on participation in the virtual school program; and
56	56	(B) Is eligible to receive all counseling and other mental health
57	57	resources that are made available to students by the LEA or public
58	58	charter school.
59	59	(5) An LEA or public charter school shall notify the department of
60	60	education if a student who is enrolled in a school of the LEA or the public charter
61	61	school participates in a virtual school program pursuant to this subsection (b) or
62	62	remote instruction pursuant to § 49-6-3004(j) and report to the department the
63	63	length of time the student is authorized to participate in the program or remote
64	64	instruction.
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66	66
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68	68
69	69	SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-3004, is amended by adding
70	70	the following as a new subsection:
71	71	(j)
72	72	(1) An LEA shall provide thirty-one (31) calendar days, or a longer period
73	73	as determined by a policy established by the LEA, of the required one hundred
74	74	eighty (180) days of classroom instruction pursuant to subdivision (a)(1) via
75	75	remote instruction to a student who is enrolled in a public school at the time that
76	76	an act of mass violence is committed at the school. The period of remote
77	77	instruction required by this subsection (j) must commence on the date that in-
78	78	person instruction first resumes at the school following the commission of the act
79	79	of mass violence.
80	80	(2) Participation in remote instruction pursuant to this subsection (j) is
81	81	voluntary pursuant to the request of the student's parent, guardian, person who
82	82	has custody of the student, or individual who has caregiving authority under § 49-
83	83	6-3001, if the student is a minor, or the student, if the student is at least eighteen
84	84	(18) years of age.
85	85	(3) A student who voluntarily participates in remote instruction pursuant
86	86	to this subsection (j):
87	87	(A) Is not subject to academic or other penalization based solely
88	88	on participation in such remote instruction; and
89	89	(B) Is eligible to receive all counseling and other mental health
90	90	resources that are made available to students who return to in-person
91	91	instruction at the school where the act of mass violence is committed
92	92	when in-person instruction first resumes.
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97	97	(4) An LEA shall comply with the requirements of subdivisions (i)(4)–(7)
98	98	when providing remote instruction to a student pursuant to this subsection (j).
99	99	(5) As used in this subsection (j):
100	100	(A) "Mass violence" means any act that leads to the serious
101	101	bodily injury, as defined in § 39-11-106, or the death, of two (2) or more
102	102	persons; and
103	103	(B) "Remote instruction" has the same meaning as in subdivision
104	104	(i)(8).
105	105	SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it,
106	106	and applies to the 2025-2026 school year and each school year thereafter.