AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, relative to school performance.
HB1373 revises Tennessee’s school turnaround law for priority schools by removing references to the former “pilot” program and converting it into an ongoing statewide school turnaround program. The bill directs the Department of Education to select up to five priority schools each year, with no more than fifteen participating at once, and requires geographic diversity by selecting at least one school from each grand division. Participating schools must develop a turnaround plan in the first year and then implement it over the next three school years, with annual evaluation against the state’s ESSA-based exit criteria.
The bill also expands and formalizes the local planning process. Each participating school must have a school turnaround committee made up of school board, school, parent, teacher, community, and business representatives. The local board must contract with an independent school turnaround expert to help develop a plan that addresses staffing, culture, curriculum, instruction, governance, leadership, finances, and measurable student achievement goals. If the local board and committee cannot agree on a final plan, both may submit proposals and the department must approve one. The department must also report annually to legislative education committees and, after each four-year cycle, compare outcomes and recommend whether successful turnaround plans should be replicated in non-participating schools.
HB1373 amends Tennessee Code Annotated Title 49, Chapter 6, Part 37, by replacing the earlier pilot-school framework with a permanent school turnaround program for priority schools. It changes terminology from “pilot” and “non-pilot school” to “non-participating school,” sets participation limits and timelines, creates detailed committee and expert-consultation requirements, and establishes reporting and evaluation duties for the Department of Education. The bill also changes compensation rules for independent turnaround experts, including withholding the final 50% of payment until a school exits the program and meets exit criteria, subject to an exception for schools that leave early under the statute.
The bill appears to have been generally well received and moved through the House with strong support at each stage. Committee votes were unanimous or near-unanimous early in the process, and the floor vote passed by a substantial margin. The final motion to adopt also passed unanimously, suggesting broad agreement on the need to refine and continue the school turnaround framework.
The main points of potential contention are the bill’s increased structure and accountability requirements for local school systems and independent experts. The law gives the Department of Education significant oversight over plan approval, limits participation to a small number of schools, and ties part of expert compensation to school performance and exit from the program. Those provisions may raise concerns among local boards, educators, or contractors about state control, implementation burden, and payment risk, although the recorded votes show little visible opposition in committee and only limited dissent on the House floor.