Memphis‑Shelby board reviews 2026 legislative agenda including parental opt‑out for firearms instruction and funding changes for school safety
Summary
Board staff presented a draft 2026 legislative agenda that asks the General Assembly for several changes — including a parental opt‑out for required firearms safety instruction, adding school social workers to a parental‑consent exemption, and authority to let local authorizers issue 5–10 year charter renewals — and discussed local impacts and outreach to advisory groups.
Memphis‑Shelby County Board of Education staff presented a draft 2026 legislative agenda that would ask the Tennessee General Assembly to amend several state laws and funding rules.
Michelle Stewart, the district's facilities/legislative lead, said the first item would let parents opt their children out of the firearms safety instruction that state law made mandatory in 2024. “With this proposal, we are asking that the law be amended to include a parental opt‑out provision for parents who do not want their child to participate in the instruction,” Stewart said during the Policy Governance and Legislation Committee.
The draft includes clarifications that due process rights should not apply to permitted teachers, and a proposal to let local authorizers offer 5‑ to 10‑year charter renewals — the latter to give local boards time to require corrective action before offering a long renewal. Stewart said the district has not yet taken the charter renewal proposal to the Charter Advisory group and board members asked that the office consult that body before pursuing the change.
On student supports, staff proposed adding licensed school social workers to a parental‑consent exemption already extended to school counselors under the Family Rights and Responsibilities Act. Stewart said the change would let school social workers provide preventative and developmental counseling without prior parental consent.
Board members also discussed a requested change to the statewide school‑resource‑officer grant so that the $70,000 per‑school funding could be used to support district‑employed school safety officers (SSOs) where districts cannot hire enough sworn SROs. Stewart said such a change would require General Assembly action and likely county commission coordination.
Other items on the draft list included requests that OREA study how other states define and count economically disadvantaged students (to inform TISA funding), voluntary pre‑K priority placement for teachers’ children, TISA funding for special‑education pre‑K students, facilities overhead match grants, adult education allocations, and a feasibility study on state‑funded programs to support educator recruitment and retention.
Board members asked for additional cost estimates and for staff to consult advisory bodies before finalizing the list. The committee did not take a formal vote on the items during the meeting; staff said they will seek stakeholder input and return with refined language.
