Clarification on Tenure Eligibility
Audience: Directors of Schools, Educators
Contact: Christy.Ballard@tn.gov

Chapter 2 of the Public Acts of 2021 (PC 2), passed during the 1st Extraordinary Session of the 112th General Assembly, revised laws regarding educator, student, school, and school district accountability for the 2020-2021 school year. It also clarified tenure eligibility for educators who have not acquired an official evaluation score due to the cancellation of TCAP tests as a result of COVID-19. 

Due to the cancellation of TCAP tests in the 2019-2020 school year, no teacher had a Level of overall effectiveness (LOE), also referred to as a final or official evaluation score, for that year. Prior to the passage of (PC 2) teachers serving the 4th or 5th years of their probationary period would not meet the tenure eligibility requirement of having evaluations demonstrating an LOE of “above expectations" or "significantly above expectations" during the last two (2) years of the probationary period. 

PC 2 revised the law to allow a teacher who has met all other requirements for tenure eligibility but has not acquired an official evaluation score during the last one (1) or two (2) years of the probationary period due to unavailable data due to the cancellation of TCAP tests as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic to utilize the most recent two (2) years of available evaluation scores achieved during the probationary period to meet the LOE requirements for tenure eligibility. This would apply to educators serving in their 4th or 5th year in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years. 

Please contact Christy Ballard if you have additional questions on tenure eligibility.