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Board legislative liaison outlines bills affecting Lakeland schools, from charter changes to recess rules
Summary
Michelle Childs, the board’s legislative liaison, updated the Lakeland Board of Education on several pending Tennessee bills including proposals on school board election timing, virtual students’ sports participation, charter schools operating outside a home LEA, recess minutes and preschool special education fiscal notes.
Michelle Childs gave the board a legislative update March 3 on several bills in the Tennessee General Assembly that could affect Lakeland School System operations.
Childs summarized multiple measures: a proposal to put county school boards on the same election cycle as legislative bodies (SB 1336 as cited by the liaison), a bill to cut the number of state-mandated assessments (SB 415), and a measure (SB 690) that would require a student enrolled in a virtual public school to be allowed to participate in sports at the zoned public school — a bill the Tennessee School Boards Association opposes, according to Childs.
Childs discussed pending charter-related proposals. She described SB 1020 (as cited in the update) as language that would let public charter schools operate outside the geographic boundaries of the local LEA, and said this differs from a separate law that prevents one LEA from operating a school in another LEA’s jurisdiction. That distinction, Childs said, rests on whether the entity operating the school is itself an LEA or a charter school which is treated differently under the proposals.
Childs also described SB 158, which would increase required physical activity to 60 minutes per school day (up from 130 minutes per week). She said the Tennessee School Boards Association opposes that change because it could reduce time available for instruction or require longer school days.
On preschool special education (SB 679 in the update), Childs said the bill remains live but noted a disparity between the legislature’s fiscal note and the district’s estimate. She said the legislative fiscal note listed $161,745; district estimates placed the total investment much higher — about $128 million — and the board observed that the fiscal note appeared inaccurate.
Board members asked clarifying questions about how charter proposals could interact with existing approvals and about the practical effect on local schools such as Bartlett and Lakeland. Childs said she would follow up with more specific information about the legislative scenario that prompted the proposed charter language and email details to the board.
The legislative update was provided during the meeting’s liaison-report portion; no board action was required on these items during the March 3 meeting.
