HB 953 - SB 905
FISCAL NOTE
Fiscal Review Committee
Tennessee General Assembly
March 15, 2025
Fiscal Analyst: Alan Hampton | Email: alan.hampton@capitol.tn.gov | Phone: 615-741-2564
HB 953 - SB 905
SUMMARY OF BILL: Enacts the School Safety and Mental Health Act. Requires each local
education agency (LEA) and public charter school to employ at least one full-time licensed
professional school counselor for each school in the LEA or public charter school. Requires the
Tennessee School Safety Center to administer a School Safety Infrastructure Grant Program (Grant
Program) and to develop a grant application.
FISCAL IMPACT:
STATE GOVERNMENT
REVENUE School Safety Infrastructure Grant Program
FY25-26 $20,000,000
EXPENDITURES General Fund
FY25-26 $20,010,000
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
EXPENDITURES Mandatory
FY25-26 $15,209,200
FY26-27 & Subsequent Years >$15,209,200
Article II, Section 24 of the Tennessee Constitution provides that: no law of general application shall impose increased expenditure
requirements on cities or counties unless the General Assembly shall provide that the state share in the cost.
OTHER FISCAL IMPACT
The timing and amount of disbursements to local education agencies for the School Safety
Infrastructure Grant Program is unknown.
Assumptions:
• The proposed legislation requires each LEA and public charter school to employ at least
one full-time licensed professional school counselor for each school in the LEA or public
charter school.
• The average salary for instructional personnel is estimated to be $57,755 with benefits
totaling $19,059.
HB 953 - SB 905 2
• There are 1,894 public schools in Tennessee and based on the 2023-24 Coordinated School
Health Annual Report, 1,696 schools have at least one counselor assigned. Therefore, 198
(1,894 -1,696) schools will each be required to employ one counselor.
• The increase in local expenditures for FY25-26 is estimated as follows:
Title Salary Benefits # Positions Total
Counselor $57,755 $19,059 198 $15,209,172
• The increase in local expenditures is estimated to exceed $15,209,172 in FY26-27 and
subsequent years.
• Pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-6-4302, the Tennessee School Safety Center is
established by the Department of Education (DOE), and in collaboration with the
Department of Safety, is responsible for the collection and analysis of data related to school
safety, including alleged violent or assaultive acts against school employees and students.
• The proposed legislation requires the Tennessee School Safety Center to administer a Grant
Program.
• Chapter 418 of the Public Acts of 2023 and Chapter 4 of the Public Acts of the First
Extraordinary Session of 2023 appropriated $40,000,000 and $10,000,000, respectively, for
public school security and safety grants.
• Based on the School Security and SRO Grant Report for Quarter 2 issued January 30, 2025, 100
percent of the $40,000,000 in non-recurring funds appropriated for the Public School
Security Grant and the $10,000,000 in special session funding have been allocated.
• For purposes of this analysis, it is assumed that $20,000,000 will be appropriated for the
Grant Program and awarded to LEAs. However, the timing and amount of such
disbursements cannot be reasonably determined.
• The DOE will be required to add a new grant to ePlan. The one-time cost of setting up a
new grant in ePlan is estimated to be $10,000.
• The total increase in state expenditures is estimated to be $20,010,000 ($20,000,000 +
$10,000) in FY25-26.
CERTIFICATION:
The information contained herein is true and correct to the best of my knowledge.
Bojan Savic, Executive Director