Tennessee § 49-2-202 - Members and meetings.

§ 49-2-202. Members and meetings.

Members of the board shall be residents and voters of the county in which they are elected and shall be citizens of recognized integrity, intelligence and ability to administer the duties of the office. No member of the county legislative body nor any other county official shall be eligible for election as a member of the county board of education. Each member of the board of education who has a relative employed by the board shall declare such relationship prior to voting on any matter of business that shall have an effect upon the employment of the relative. In making the declaration, such board member shall certify that the vote that is about to be cast on the pending matter is in the best interest of the school system. Such matters shall include, but shall not be limited to, the school system annual budget, tenure considerations and personnel policies. The director of schools shall give notice to the board each time there is intent to employ a relative of a school board member. The director of schools of a county school system shall also give notice to the county school board each time there is intent to employ a relative of an elected county official. The director of schools of a city school system shall also give notice to the city school board each time there is intent to employ a relative of an elected city official. In giving such notice, the director of schools shall certify that the prospective employee is duly qualified by training and licensure to occupy the position. As used in this subdivision (a)(3), unless the context otherwise requires, “relative” means a spouse, parent, parent-in-law, child, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, or any person who resides in the same household as any of the officials referenced in subdivision (a)(3)(A). This subdivision (a)(3) shall not be construed to prohibit two (2) or more relatives from working for the LEA. If two (2) or more employees who are relatives are within the same direct line of supervision, or become within the same direct line of supervision by marriage or promotion, then the director of schools shall attempt to resolve this issue by transfer of one (1) of the employees. If the director finds that transfer is not feasible or is not in the best interest of students, then an alternate evaluation plan shall be devised for one (1) of the employees. No person shall be eligible to serve on the board unless the person is a bona fide resident of the county and has a practical education; provided, that beginning on October 1, 1990, except in counties having a population of: not less than nor more than 14,940 15,000 49,400 49,500 74,500 74,600 according to the 1980 federal census or any subsequent federal census, no person shall qualify as a candidate for a position on a county board of education until the person has filed with the county election commission proof that the candidate graduated from high school or received a GED(R), evidenced by a diploma or other documentation satisfactory to the commission. Any person serving on a school board as of October 1, 1990, shall be allowed to continue to serve and to seek reelection or reappointment to one (1) additional term even though the person may not have graduated from high school or received a GED(R). If any member ceases to reside in the county, the office of the member shall become vacant. All board members shall be properly trained during their service on the board of education. The minimum requirements for this training shall be established by the state board of education and shall include an annual session for all board members. All members of the local board of education shall take oath to discharge faithfully the duties of the office. It is the duty of the board of education to: Hold regular meetings at least quarterly for the purpose of transacting public school business; provided, that the chair may call special meetings whenever in the chair's judgment the interest of the public schools requires it, or when requested to do so by a majority of the board. The chair or the chair's designee shall give reasonable notice of the time and location of all meetings to the president of the local education association or the president's designee; and Elect one (1) of its members as chair annually. The compensation of members of the county board shall be fixed by the county legislative body for their services when attending regular and special meetings and discharging the duties imposed by this title; provided, that the county trustee shall pay no voucher issued to members unless the voucher has been approved by the county mayor; and provided, further, that no member of any board shall receive less than four dollars ($4.00) per day for the member's services. When a vacancy occurs, the unexpired term shall be filled at the next regular meeting of the county legislative body or at a special meeting of the county legislative body. Vacancies shall be declared to exist, on account of death, resignation or removal from the county. A temporary absence of a county board member to serve in the military shall not constitute a vacancy in office and such absence shall not be subject to the requirements of § 8-48-205(5). Notwithstanding § 49-2-201 and this section to the contrary, the board of education for each LEA that operates one (1) or more high schools may annually select, prior to commencement of the new school year, high school students to serve as advisory, nonvoting members of the board. If a board of education selects high school students to serve as advisory, nonvoting members of the board, then the board shall not select more than four (4) students to serve each year. The students serve without compensation but may, at the discretion of the board, be reimbursed for reasonable and necessary expenses incurred while engaged in board business. A majority of all of the members constituting the board, and not merely a majority of the quorum, shall be required to transact all business coming before the board in regular or special meetings. Acts 1925, ch. 115, § 6; Shan. Supp., §§ 1487a27-1487a29, 1487a39; Code 1932, §§ 2318-2320, 2328; Acts 1961, ch. 60, § 1; 1965, ch. 96, § 1; 1974, ch. 654, §§ 11, 12; 1982, ch. 792, § 1; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), §§ 49-209 — 49-211, 49-213; Acts 1988, ch. 638, § 1; 1989, ch. 362, §§ 1, 2; 1990, ch. 948, § 25; 1992, ch. 535, § 33; 1992, ch. 767, § 1; 1996, ch. 638, § 1; 1998, ch. 717, § 1; 2003, ch. 90, § 2; 2011, ch. 464, § 1; 2012, ch. 875, § 1; 2013, ch. 301, § 1; 2019, ch. 192, § 1. Code Commission Notes. The amendment to this section by Acts 1989, ch. 362 amending (a)(3) contained the language “beginning on January 1, 1990”; however, in view of the fact that this amendment took effect October 1, 1990, the code commission deemed the January 1, 1990, language to be inoperative, and substituted “beginning on October 1, 1990,” in its stead. The other references to October 1, 1990 contained in (a)(3) were contained in the amendment by ch. 362. Compiler's Notes. Acts 2003, ch. 90, § 2, directed the code commission to change all references from “county executive” to “county mayor” and to include all such changes in supplements and replacement volumes for the Tennessee Code Annotated. For table of U.S. decennial populations of Tennessee counties, see Volume 13 and its supplement. Acts 2019, ch. 192, § 2 provided that the act, which amended this section, shall apply to boards of education allowing high school students to serve as advisory, nonvoting members of the board for the 2019-2020 school year and each school year thereafter. Textbooks. Tennessee Jurisprudence, 22 Tenn. Juris., Schools, §§ 7, 13. Law Reviews. Local Government Law — 1957 Tennessee Survey (Thomas G. Roady, Jr. and Robert L. White), 10 Vand. L. Rev. 1127. Attorney General Opinions. County school board — telephone meeting, OAG 99-152, 1999 Tenn. AG LEXIS 156 (8/16/99). A person can simultaneously be a state employee, a member of the Democratic Party Executive Board, and a member of the school board, OAG 01-144 2001 Tenn. AG LEXIS 151 (9/4/01). County employee as school board member, OAG 05-146, 2005 Tenn. AG LEXIS 148 (9/27/05). Failure of county school board members to attend annual training. OAG 10-87, 2010 Tenn. AG LEXIS 93 (7/20/10). A board of education may not, by contract, limit its statutory decision-making authority by requiring a supermajority vote to approve termination of a director of schools when the statute provides for termination by majority vote. OAG 14-102, 2014 Tenn. AG LEXIS 105 (12/2/14). Article VII, Section 2, of the Tennessee Constitution requires local legislative bodies to make appointments to fill vacancies that occur on local school boards until the next election. Amending T.C.A. §§ 49-2-201(a)(1) and -202(e) to allow the members of a county school board to appoint new members to fill vacancies would violate Article VII, Section 2, of the Tennessee Constitution. OAG 15-25, 2015 Tenn. AG LEXIS 25 (3/19/15).