Bradley County school board approves letter opposing proposed universal vouchers, OKs Parkview contract and bus route transfer

BRADLEY COUNTY, Tenn. — The Bradley County Board of Education on Dec. 12 approved a letter from the board urging state lawmakers to include safeguards if they advance a proposed universal school voucher program and took several local actions including approving an architect contract for Parkview Elementary with a corrected timeline and transferring a bus route to a new contractor.

The voucher letter — drafted for members of the Tennessee General Assembly and the education committee chairs — asks lawmakers to protect low-income access, set eligibility criteria that prioritize students new to private schools, require uniform accountability for any school receiving public funds, and delay expansion until impacts on public-school funding and infrastructure are understood. The board voted 6-0 to approve the letter.

Dr. Cash, director of schools, told the board that the draft Education Freedom Act of ’25, as discussed by the board, would rely on public funds and that the bill language the board had reviewed suggested roughly…