HB 676 - SB 705
FISCAL NOTE
Fiscal Review Committee
Tennessee General Assembly
February 28, 2025
Fiscal Analyst: Alan Hampton | Email: alan.hampton@capitol.tn.gov | Phone: 615-741-2564
HB 676 - SB 705
SUMMARY OF BILL: Requires the Department of Education (DOE) to provide teachers
of state special schools eligibility to accumulate and use leave in the same manner as public school
teachers and eligibility for paid family leave in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-50-814.
Requires any percentage increase to the salary schedule of a local education agency (LEA) where a
state special school is located to also result in an equivalent percentage increase to the salary
schedule for that state special school.
If the General Assembly appropriates monies in the budget for salaries, raises, bonuses, or other
incentives for public school teachers and other licensed personnel employed in an LEA or public
charter school, requires the DOE to expend an equivalent amount for the teachers and other
licensed personnel employed in the state special schools managed and controlled by the DOE.
FISCAL IMPACT:
STATE GOVERNMENT
Expenditures General Fund
FY25-26 & Subsequent Years $950,800
Assumptions:
• There are four state special schools which include: the Tennessee School for the Blind, the
Tennessee School for the Deaf, the West Tennessee School for the Deaf, and the Alvin C.
York Agricultural Institute.
• Current law requires teachers in the state special schools to be paid on a comparable basis
with teachers in the geographic districts where the state special schools are located.
• The state special schools have 196 positions that utilize the teacher salary schedule pursuant
to Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-3-306(a)(3).
• Pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-3-306(a)(3), the state salary schedule for teachers must
establish a base salary that is no less than:
o $42,000 for the 2023-2024 school year;
o $44,500 for the 2024-2025 school year;
o $47,000 for the 2025-2026 school year; and
o $50,000 for the 2026-2027 school year
• The current salaries and benefits for these 196 positions is estimated to be $19,707,315
($14,817,530 salary + $4,889,785 benefits).
• Based on historical salary increases for teachers in the geographic counties where the state
special schools are located, including the required salary increases for FY25-26, in order to
HB 676 - SB 705 2
keep state special schools on a comparable scale with teachers in the geographic region, the
increase in state expenditures is estimated to be $950,800 in FY25-26 and subsequent years.
CERTIFICATION:
The information contained herein is true and correct to the best of my knowledge.
Bojan Savic, Executive Director