Section 0520-01-02-.31 - ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF SCHOOLS(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.Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0520-01-02-.31
Original rules filed August 20, 2020; effective November 18, 2020. Amendments filed December 2, 2021; effective 3/2/2022.Authority: T.C.A. §§ 49-1-104, 49-1-302, 49-1-613, and 49-6-3004.