§ 49-6-7001 — General provisions

(a) This section shall be known and may be cited as the "Parent Educational Participation Act." (b) (1) It may be the duty of the board of education of each school district to develop a program for the voluntary participation of parents in the educational and teaching process at the school in which the parent has a child enrolled in school. (2) It may include, but shall not be limited to, such activities as educational assistant, library assistant, hall monitor, recreation supervisor and any other activity that enables the parent to more fully observe and understand the school, the faculty, the students and the educational and teaching activities. (3) The parent's participation shall be varied. (4) In any school having a full-time principal with no teaching duties and a school secretary, the principal may maintain records on the program at the school and submit conclusions and recommendations to the board on the effectiveness of the program as to the student and parent. (5) State employees with children enrolled in schools may, subject to department approval or the approval of the employees' immediate supervisor, take off up to one (1) day a month from work to voluntarily participate in the educational and teaching process described in this subsection (b). Upon request of a state employee, a school shall provide documentation verifying the employee's participation in the educational and teaching process. (6) Private employers, subject to the constraints and resources of their workplaces, are urged to develop programs that permit their employees with children in school to take time from work to voluntarily participate in the educational and teaching process described in this subsection (b). (c) The state board of education may establish guidelines for the development of programs by the local board of education and may assure that each school district has such a program. (d) The board of education of each school district may periodically schedule alternate meetings to the regular parent-teachers association meeting to permit working parents to attend.

Legislative History

Acts 1973, ch. 189, §§ 1-4; 1976, ch. 453, § 1; T.C.A., §§ 49-4801 -- 49-4804; Acts 2006, ch. 850, § 1; 2011, ch. 241, § 1.