Current through September 24, 2024
(1) The minimum
length of the school day for students shall be six and one-half (61/2) hours.
(a) LEAs may provide for professional
development during the school day under one (1) of the following options:
1. LEAs which elect to extend the school day
to at least seven (7) hours for the purpose of meeting instructional time
requirements missed due to dangerous or extreme weather conditions may allocate
a portion of that extension for the purpose of faculty professional
development, IEP team meetings, school-wide or system-wide instructional
planning meetings, parent/teacher conferences, or other similar meetings, as
permitted in T.C.A. §
49-6-3004(e)(1),
under the following conditions:
(i) Prior to
the beginning of the school year, the LEA shall designate how many days shall
be allocated for dangerous or extreme weather conditions and how many shall be
allocated for student dismissals for faculty professional development, IEP team
meetings, school-wide or system-wide instructional planning meetings,
parent/teacher conferences, or other similar meetings. The total number of days
shall not exceed thirteen (13).
(ii) Faculty professional development shall
be consistent with the policies, standards, and guidelines established by the
State Board of Education.
(iii)
LEAs shall submit their plans for the allocation of excess time to the
Commissioner for approval.
2. LEAs may adopt policies providing for
individual schools to have school days of at least seven (7) hours in order to
accumulate instructional time to be used for periodic early student dismissals
for the purpose of faculty professional development. The following conditions
shall apply to LEAs exercising this option:
(i) Early dismissals shall not exceed the
equivalent of thirteen (13) days and shall not exceed three and one-half (31/2)
hours in any week.
(ii) Students
shall attend school one-hundred eighty (180) days.
(iii) Faculty professional development shall
be consistent with standards and guidelines established by the State Board of
Education in the Professional Development Policy 5.200.
(2) The length of the
kindergarten day shall not be less than four (4) hours. Double sessions in any
kindergarten program may be permitted so long as both sessions meet all legal
requirements for kindergarten programs.
(3) A cumulative record provided to teachers
by the LEA shall be kept up to date for each student, kindergarten (K) through
grade twelve (12), and shall remain as local school property.
(a) Each school shall provide for the storage
and safekeeping of all records and reports.
(b) The maintenance, use, dissemination, and
confidentiality of information in school records and reports shall be governed
by written policies of the local board of education.
(4) Local boards of education shall have
policies providing for class sizes in grades kindergarten (K) through twelve
(12) in accordance with the following:
|
Grade Level |
Average Class Size |
Maximum Class Size |
|
K-3 |
20 |
25 |
|
4-6 |
25 |
30 |
|
7-12 |
30 |
35 |
|
Career and Technical Education |
20 |
25 |
(a) The average
class size for a grade level unit (such as the unit K-3) shall not exceed the
stated average, although individual classes within that grade level unit may
exceed the average.
(b) No class
shall exceed the prescribed maximum size.
(c) The average class size and the maximum
class size shall be based on regular classroom teaching positions pursuant to
T.C.A. §
49-1-104(c).
(d) Class size limits may be exceeded in such
areas as keyboarding and instrumental and vocal music classes, provided that
the effectiveness of the instructional program in these areas is not
impaired.
(e) LEAs may seek a
waiver from the Commissioner to extend the Career and Technical Education (CTE)
class size average in grades nine through twelve (9-12), provided that
individual class sizes do not exceed the maximum class size set for CTE
classes.
(f) LEAs shall not
establish split-grade classes for the purpose of complying with the provisions
of the class size averages and maximums. However, these provisions do not
prevent LEAs from using multi-aged classes.
(g) Local boards of education must approve
the establishment of any split-grade classes for any purpose, provided that
split-grade classes shall not be established for the purpose of compliance with
the provisions herein.
(h) The
average class size specified for the grade levels involved in split-grade
classes will be the maximum size allowed in such classes.
(5) Teachers shall be on duty at least seven
(7) hours per day and such additional time as the LEA requires.
(6) Local boards of education shall provide
full-time classroom teachers in grades kindergarten (K) through twelve (12)
with individual duty-free planning periods during the established instructional
day.
(a) Individual planning time shall
consist of two and one-half (21/2) hours each week during which teachers have
no other assigned duties or responsibilities other than planning for
instruction. The two and one-half (21/2) hours may be divided on a daily or
other basis.
(b) In schools
providing a lunch period for students, all teachers shall be provided each day
with a lunch period during which they shall not have assigned duties. The lunch
period for each teacher shall be at least the same amount of time as that
allowed for students. Individual duty-free planning time shall not occur during
any period that teachers are entitled to duty-free lunch.
(c) Any LEA which is providing an individual
duty-free planning period by extending the school day by thirty (30) minutes as
of the beginning of the 2000-01 school year may continue such practice and
satisfy the planning time requirements.
(7) Local boards of education shall ensure
compliance with the background check requirements of T.C.A. §§
49-5-406
and
49-5-413,
for all teachers or for any other positions requiring close proximity to
children.
(8) Local boards of
education shall develop, maintain, and implement a long-range strategic plan
that addresses at least a five (5)-year period of time. The plan shall be
posted to the LEA's website and include a mission statement, goals, objectives,
and strategies, and identify how the strategic plan supports one (1) or more
goals contained in the State Board of Education Master Plan. The strategic plan
shall be reviewed every two (2) years and updated, if necessary. The LEA shall
develop and implement a district-level improvement plan that operationalizes
the local board of education's five (5)-year strategic plan in accordance with
State Board District and School Improvement Planning Policy 2.101.
Authority: T.C.A. §§
49-1-104,
49-1-302,
49-1-613,
and 49-6-3004.
