AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49 and Title 68, relative to diabetes.
Summary
This bill requires local education agencies (LEAs) and public charter schools, beginning August 1, 2025, to include state-developed information about Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes whenever they distribute certain health-related notices to parents and guardians of K-12 students. The covered notices include materials about immunizations, infectious diseases, medications, or other school health issues. The added diabetes information must come from a publication created by the Tennessee Department of Education in cooperation with the Department of Health and made available for free download on the department’s website.
The required publication must explain what Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are, identify risk factors and warning signs, advise parents to consult a child’s primary care provider if warning signs appear, describe screening processes and the significance of stages of Type 1 diabetes, and recommend follow-up treatment planning after a diagnosis. The act takes effect upon becoming law, and it amends Tennessee Code Annotated Title 49, Chapter 6, Part 3, with a related reference to Title 68 in the bill caption.
Impact
The bill adds a new state-law notice requirement for schools that already send health-related information to families, effectively expanding those communications to include standardized diabetes education materials. It places responsibility on the Department of Education, working with the Department of Health, to create and publish the content, and it affects LEAs and public charter schools serving K-12 students by requiring them to distribute the publication in specified circumstances. The measure does not create a new medical mandate for students, but it does formalize a statewide parent-notification and health-awareness process tied to school communications.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial. It passed the House Education Administration Subcommittee 6-0, the House Education Committee 18-0, and then passed the House floor on consent calendar third consideration by a vote of 93-0. The absence of recorded opposition and the use of consent calendar passage suggest strong bipartisan agreement on the public-health and informational purpose of the measure.
Contention
No major points of contention are reflected in the available committee or floor history. The only practical issues implied by the bill are implementation-related: schools must add the diabetes publication when they distribute certain health notices, and the state education and health departments must produce a free, downloadable resource by July 31, 2025. Any concerns would likely center on administrative burden, timing, or the scope of the trigger for distribution, but no member objections or debate are provided in the record.