2021 Tennessee Code
Title 49 - Education
Chapter 6 - Elementary and Secondary Education
Part 30 - Attendance
§ 49-6-3007. List of Students — Reports of Attendance — Enforcement of Compulsory Attendance — List of Truant Students

1. By the beginning of each school year, the director of schools shall furnish, or cause to be furnished through the attendance supervisor, to the principal of each school a list of students who will attend the school together with the names of the students' parents or guardians. The lists must be taken from the census enumeration on file in the office of the director of schools or from any other available and reliable source.


2. After the opening of school, each principal of a public school must report to the director of schools the names of all students on the list furnished to the principal who have not appeared for enrollment.


3. A principal or head of school of a public, nonpublic, or church-related school must report to the director of schools of the LEA in which the school is located the names, ages, and residences of all students in attendance at the school within thirty (30) days after the beginning of the school year. The principal or head of school of a public, nonpublic, or church-related school must make other reports of attendance in the school, including transfers of students, as may be required by the local board of education, the state board of education, or the department of education. Notwithstanding subsection (f), this subsection (c) applies to any student less than six (6) years of age who is enrolled in kindergarten in any school to which this subsection (c) is applicable.


4. All public, nonpublic, and church-related schools shall keep daily reports of attendance, verified by the teacher making the record, that shall be open to inspection at all reasonable times by the director of schools of the LEA in which the school is located, or the director's duly authorized representative. Notwithstanding subsection (f), this subsection (d) applies to any child less than six (6) years of age who is enrolled in kindergarten in any school to which this subsection (d) is applicable.


5. 
   
   1. By the beginning of each school year, the principal or head of school of a public, nonpublic, or church-related school shall give written notice to the parent, guardian, or person having control of a student subject to compulsory attendance that the parent, guardian, or other person having control of the student must monitor the student's school attendance and require the student to attend school. The written notice must inform the parent, guardian, or other person having control of a student that a student who accumulates five (5) days of unexcused absences during the school year is subject to the LEA's progressive truancy interventions and that continued unexcused absences may result in a referral to juvenile court. The five (5) days of unexcused absences need not be five (5) consecutive days of unexcused absences.
   
   
   2. The principal of a public school must report promptly to the director of schools, or to the attendance supervisor, the names of all students who have withdrawn from school or who have accumulated three (3) days of unexcused absences. Upon a student's accumulation of three (3) days of unexcused absences, the director of schools or the attendance supervisor may serve, or cause to be served, upon the parent, guardian, or other person having control of a child subject to compulsory attendance who is unlawfully absent from school, written notice that the child's attendance at school is required by law.
   
   
   3. Additionally, the principal of a public school must report promptly to the director of schools, or to the attendance supervisor, the names of all students who have withdrawn from school or who have accumulated five (5) days of unexcused absences. Each successive accumulation of five (5) days of unexcused absences by a student must also be reported.
   
   
   4. 
      
      1. When a student accumulates five (5) days of unexcused absences, the director of schools or attendance supervisor shall serve, or cause to be served, upon the parent, guardian, or other person having control of a child subject to compulsory attendance who is unlawfully absent from school written notice that the child's attendance at school is required by law. The director of schools or attendance supervisor shall send a new notice after each successive accumulation of five (5) unexcused absences.
      
      
      2. After the child has accumulated five (5) unexcused absences, and after given adequate time, as determined by director of schools or attendance supervisor, the child's parent, guardian, or other person having control of the child has failed to turn in documentation to excuse those absences, the director of schools or attendance supervisor shall implement the first tier of the progressive truancy intervention requirements as described in § 49-6-3009.
      
      
      3. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a local board of education from adopting a truancy intervention plan that includes intervention actions to be taken before those required by this subsection (e).


6. Except as otherwise provided by § 49-6-3001 or § 49-6-3005, this section is applicable to a child less than six (6) years of age and the child's parent, guardian, or other person having control of a child, when such person has enrolled the child in a public school; provided, that a child may be withdrawn within six (6) weeks of initial enrollment without penalty.


7. For the purposes of this part, for recording and coding student absences from school because of disciplinary actions, the following definitions apply:
   
   
   1. “Expulsion” means removal from attendance for more than ten (10) consecutive days or more than fifteen (15) days in a month of school attendance. Multiple suspensions that occur consecutively constitute expulsion. The LEA is not eligible to receive funding for an expelled student;
   
   
   2. “Remand” means assignment to an alternative school. The student so assigned shall be included in average daily attendance and average daily membership and shall continue to be counted as present for funding purposes. The department of education shall establish a set of codes to be used for reporting reasons that students are remanded to an alternative school; and
   
   
   3. “Suspension” means dismissal for any reason from attendance at school not exceeding ten (10) consecutive days. Multiple suspensions shall not run consecutively, nor shall multiple suspensions be applied to avoid expulsion from school. The LEA remains eligible to receive funding for a suspended student.


8. 
   
   1. 
      
      1. An LEA may enter into an agreement with the local law enforcement agency serving the LEA's area and the appropriate local government in that area to assist in the enforcement of compulsory attendance upon complying with the following conditions:


9. Creation by the local board of education of an advisory council to assist the board in formulating the agreement. The board must include representatives of teachers, parents, administrators, and other community representatives;

Receipt of input from neighborhood groups and other interested parties; and

At least one (1) public hearing on the proposed agreement prior to its adoption by the board.

The agreement must provide for:

Training teachers, principals, social workers, and other school personnel concerning truancy issues;

Training of involved law enforcement personnel in the truancy law, including categories of students to which the law does not apply, such as nonpublic school students or home school students; and

Safeguards to protect students from discriminatory or selective enforcement and to protect the civil rights of students and parents.

If an LEA enters into an agreement, then every public school principal or teacher employed by the LEA must report promptly to the director of schools, or the director's designated representative, the names of all students who accumulated five (5) days of unexcused absences and continue to report each subsequent unexcused absence. The five (5) days of unexcused absences need not be five (5) consecutive days of unexcused absences.

If a student accumulates five (5) days of unexcused absences, the director of schools shall serve, or cause to be served, upon the parent, guardian, or other person having control of the student written notice that the student's attendance at school is required. The notice must inform the parent, guardian, or other person having control of the student of this subsection (h).

Under the agreement, and for purposes of this section and § 37-1-102(b)(32)(A), a student who accumulates three (3) days of unexcused absences may be deemed habitually truant.

The director of schools or the director's representative may issue a list of truant students to the local law enforcement agency for the purpose of allowing the law enforcement agency to take the student into temporary custody when the student is found away from the school premises, without adequate excuse, during school hours, in a public place, in any public or private conveyance, or in any place of business open to the public, unless accompanied by a parent, guardian, or other person having control of the student. The agreement shall specify that the law enforcement officer's sole function is to deliver the student to:

The parent, guardian, or other person having control of the student;

The principal of the school in which the student is enrolled;

A truancy center established by the LEA; or

The juvenile court, if the juvenile court and the local law enforcement agency have entered into a local interagency agreement.

The powers conferred under such agreements may be exercised without warrant and without subsequent legal proceedings.

This subsection (h) does not apply to students enrolled in nonpublic schools, home schools under § 49-6-3050, or church-related schools under § 49-50-801.

Upon issuance of a standing order by the juvenile court, LEA officials shall be allowed to release student record information to local law enforcement agencies and to juvenile justice system officials to assist the officials in effectively serving the student whose record is released. Officials and authorities receiving the information shall not disclose the information to any other party without prior written consent of the parent. Release of a student record must comply with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g), § 10-7-504, and other relevant state and federal privacy laws.