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Board hears legislative update on Educational Freedom Scholarship Act; members raise concerns about special‑needs access and district approval requirement
Summary
A district legislative update reported the Educational Freedom Scholarship Act of 2025 passed during a special session; board members discussed vote tallies, special‑education access, a one‑time teacher payment tied to a local resolution and potential fiscal impacts.
A legislative update presented to the Franklin County School Board reported that the Educational Freedom Scholarship Act of 2025 passed in the special session and described aspects of the bill that board members said merit further attention.
The presenter said the House vote was 54 in favor and 44 against and the Senate vote was 20‑13. The update noted Representative Iris Rudder of the district voted for the scholarship act and that Senator Janice Bowman voted against it.
Board members raised concerns about access for students with disabilities. The presenter said a provision in the bill means an IEP does not automatically transfer with a student who leaves a public school to attend a private school using a voucher. "If a student or a special ed student with an IEP leaves us to go to especially to receive this voucher, the IEP does not go with them," the board was told.
Speakers also discussed a one‑time payment for teachers created in an amendment. One presenter described the amendment as providing a one‑time payout for current teachers (spoken of as both a $10,000 figure earlier in discussion and later as $2,000 in the same meeting), and said the district would need to pass a local resolution to participate. The board described that point as unclear in the bill text and said support staff were not included in the payment as discussed in the update.
A board member who followed the legislation described outreach to state legislators and said some colleagues were concerned about the fiscal impact. "We know it's gonna cost the first year in excess of $400,000,000 to the taxpayers of Tennessee," the presenter said, attributing that figure to analyses shared with legislators. The board discussed contacting local legislators and tracking future amendments.
The item was informational; the board did not take formal action but members said they will continue monitoring the bill and any required local decisions, such as passing a resolution to accept teacher payments if the district chooses to participate.
