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At-a-glance: key committee votes from Tennessee House Education Committee meeting

Tennessee House Education Committee · February 12, 2026

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AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

The committee approved a consent calendar of 18 appointments and moved several bills out of committee — including HB 2,011 (extension of advisory committee deadline), HB 17-25 (military student enrollment), HB 14-66 (presidential physical fitness test), HB 18-05 (curriculum on communism, as amended), HB 18-86 (internet safety to Finance), and HB 17-72 (higher-education access for people with criminal histories).

At a glance — outcomes from the Tennessee House Education Committee meeting:

Consent calendar and appointments - Consent calendar of 18 appointees to higher-education boards passed (recorded as 18 ayes, 0 nays, 1 present not voting) and moved to Calendar and Rules (SEG 161–221).

House bills advanced - HB 2,011 (extension of advisory committee deadline to 06/01/2026): Passed out of committee (15 ayes, 0 nays, 2 present not voting) and will proceed to calendar and rules (SEG 241–296). - HB 17-25 (military student enrollment): Allows a student moving into a district from a military family to enroll in the school they expect to be in for up to one year to reduce repeated moves; passed (16 ayes, 0 nays, 1 present not voting) and moved to calendar and rules (SEG 319–431). - HB 14-66 (presidential physical fitness test): Requires LEAs and charters to administer the Presidential Physical Fitness test, provide accommodations for students with IEPs or 504 plans, and prohibits using results to lower grades; passed (17 ayes, 2 nays) (SEG 799–861). - HB 18-05 (history-of-communism standards): Amendment added to delay implementation until the next academic-standards adoption; bill passed as amended (recorded 15 ayes, 4 nays) and moves to calendar and rules (SEG 445–707). - HB 18-86 (internet acceptable use / student safety): Committee heard four witnesses and extensive member questions; amendment delays implementation to the 2027–28 school year and the bill passed to Finance (18 ayes, 1 no) (SEG 862–1582). - HB 17-72 (higher-education access for people with criminal histories): Changes admitting authority to support reentry while excluding violent offenses per TCA 40-35-120(b); passed (18 ayes, 0 nays) and moves on to calendar and rules (SEG 1600–1701).

What the votes mean - Several bills included amendments that delay implementation to allow districts or the State Board of Education to align processes with existing cycles and to avoid immediate fiscal impact. - Committee members repeatedly raised concerns about implementation workload for districts, special-education service timelines, and how local boards will handle website or curriculum disputes.

Next steps - Bills that moved on will face further review in their next legislative stages (calendar and rules or Finance). Committee members asked stakeholders to continue refining implementation details.