Conference committee adopts oversight-board plan for struggling school districts

The conference committee for Senate Bill 662 and House Bill 714 voted to adopt a conference report that would allow the commissioner of education to require a nine‑member oversight board for a local education agency if the LEA meets four of six statutory criteria, the committee announced after a roll‑call vote.

Casey Washburn of the Office of Legal Services summarized the compromise, saying the oversight board would be appointed with five members named by the governor, two by the speaker of the House and two by the speaker of the Senate, and would be required to be in place no later than July 1 for any LEA that meets the threshold. "The oversight board will consist of 9 members, each of whom must reside within the county in which the LEA is located," Washburn told the committee. The board would conduct a comprehensive needs assessment, develop an annually reviewed transformation plan, review contracts and budgets and may hire up to three staff members or reassign LEA central‑office staff to assist.

Committee members debated several procedural and substantive clarifications before the final vote. Chairman Mark White moved an amendment that would (1) expressly allow the oversight board to contract for the needs assessment and turnaround plan, (2) permit the board to set policies and timelines for submission of contracts and (3) add language about appointment of the oversight board chair; the committee approved that amendment by voice vote. Another amendment that would have allowed one of the speaker‑of‑the‑house appointees to reside outside the LEA county (but within Tennessee) also passed.

The House roll call recorded four ayes and one nay among named house members in the transcript; the senate roll call recorded five ayes and one nay. After the roll calls, the chair declared the conference report adopted and the committee adjourned.