Education subcommittee advances several school-policy bills after testimony on student voice, safety and homeschooling

The Education Administration subcommittee met on March 11, 2025, and voted on a series of education bills spanning school safety, student engagement, childcare access and homeschooling policy. Several items passed out of committee to the full Education Committee, while others were defeated or rolled for further consideration.

Why it matters: The panel considered policy changes that affect daily school operations and student supports — from whether parents must be notified about school threats, to who may sit as a nonvoting student member of a school board, to new training and screening practices intended to identify and respond to student health and safety needs. Several bills included public testimony from students, school administrators and family members directly affected by the issues.

Votes at a glance

- House Bill 10 88 — requires local education agencies that report credible threats of violence or significantly disruptive behavior to law enforcement to also notify parents or guardians of enrolled students within 24 hours of the report. Outcome: passed out to full committee (6 ayes).

- House Bill 7 64 (as amended) — revises rules for school searches, specifying that searches may be conducted by a school resource officer acting as a school official, a school security officer, or a school administrator who has completed State Board of Education training; includes parent-notification provisions. Outcome: passed out to full committee (6 ayes).

- House Bill 11 75 (as amended) — allows childcare centers similar leasing or purchase access to underutilized local education agency property, clarifies operations for school-based childcare programs and classifies certain family childcare homes as residential for retrofit purposes. Outcome: passed out to full committee (6 ayes).

- House Bill 11 99 — directs each school board or local education agency to develop a policy to appoint a nonvoting student member, with qualifications set by the LEA. Two students testified in support. Outcome: passed out to full committee (6 ayes).

- House Bill 10 14 (as amended) — establishes an appeal process to resolve conflicts between fire/life-safety code requirements and school security features so districts, plant managers and fire marshals can reconcile competing safety directives. Administrators and school-plant professionals testified. Outcome: passed out to full committee (6 ayes).

- House Bill 5 52, “the FREE Act” (proposed additional homeschool category) — would have created a new, distinct homeschool category that, according to supporters, preserves parents' autonomy; witnesses included long-time home-educators and representatives of the Tennessee Home Education Association. Outcome: failed in committee (1 aye, 5 nays).

- House Bill 12 50 — authorizes local school boards and charter schools to employ or accept volunteer chaplains who meet credentialing and background-check requirements; sponsor said participation would be voluntary for schools and families. Outcome: passed out to full committee (5 ayes, 1 nay).

- House Bill 4 53 — clarifies the timeframe for required fire drills in educational occupancies to reduce ambiguity about “every 30 school days” versus calendar-day counting. Outcome: passed out to full committee (6 ayes).

- House Bill 11 13 — would amend the composition and advisory participation for the Safe STARS (safety) review with legislative appointees and maintain the Department of Health’s role; the committee heard emotional testimony from family members who described a personal loss and a foundation-led pilot physical-screening program. Outcome: passed out to full committee (6 ayes).

- House Bill 5 06 — requires each LEA and public charter school to ensure at least one full‑time employee per school receives annual seizure-safety and first-aid training (in addition to the school nurse) to assist in emergencies; sponsor cited state counts of students diagnosed with seizure disorders. Outcome: passed out to full committee (6 ayes).

- House Bill 12 (free school meals proposal by Representative Clemens) — would have expanded universal free school meals; sponsor said the bill would use federal community eligibility funds first and state funds to fill gaps. Outcome: failed in committee (2 ayes, 4 nays).

- House Bill 13 77 (as amended) — requires LEAs and charter governing bodies to provide the student’s most recent universal reading screener score with or on report cards for students K–8, to help parents better understand reading progress. Outcome: passed out to full committee (6 ayes).

Other procedural items: Several bills were rolled to later calendars (including House Bills 902 and 933), House Bill 1107 failed for lack of a second, and a number of bills were moved to the committee’s final calendar scheduling as noted by the chair.

Public testimony and discussion highlights

- Student voice: Daniella Suarez, a Mount Juliet High School senior, and Maren Bekell, a junior, testified in support of House Bill 11 99. Suarez said the bill “represents a broader shift in how the government and the people could interact with the opinions and actions of a younger population,” and cited youth voter turnout data to argue for increased civic engagement.

- Fire and safety coordination: Andy Brown, assistant director of schools for facilities and sports services in Sumner County and president‑elect of the Tennessee School Plant Management Association, and Gary Lilly, executive director of the Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents, described day-to-day tensions between fire‑safety code and security measures and supported an appeal process that would bring fire marshals, school staff and security stakeholders together to resolve conflicts.

- Family testimony on medical screenings: Dennis Price Sr., speaking for the Dennis Price Jr. Foundation, called for enhanced screening protocols and described a pilot physical program being developed in partnership with LeBonheur (Labona) Hospital, UT and Memphis‑Shelby County Schools. Witnesses said commonly used athletic physicals can miss conditions that more in‑depth screening would detect.

- Homeschooling debate: Supporters of the proposed “FREE Act” described it as additional legal autonomy for homeschool families; opponents raised concerns about potential exploitation by unscrupulous parents and the impact on child-protection reporting. The bill failed on a 1–5 vote.

What’s next: Bills that passed in committee move to the full Education Committee according to the clerk’s announcements; bills that failed will not advance from this subcommittee. Committee members noted they will continue to refine language on items where sponsors indicated forthcoming changes before full committee consideration.