State Board proposes increasing unlicensed substitute window from 20 to 30 days
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Summary
At an Oct. 9 rulemaking hearing, the State Board of Education’s general counsel summarized a proposed rule change to align the leave-for-teachers rule with 2025 public acts that raise the maximum consecutive days a substitute may serve without a teaching license from 20 to 30.
Rachel Soupeh, general counsel for the State Board of Education, summarized proposed revisions to the board’s leave-for-teachers rule at an Oct. 9 rulemaking hearing, saying the changes would align the rule with recent legislation that increases the maximum consecutive days a substitute may serve without a teaching license from 20 to 30.
The change is intended to bring the board’s rule into conformity with Chapters 296 and 235 of the public acts of 2025, Soupeh said. The proposed rule also adds cross-references to corresponding statutory requirements.
Under the proposed revision described at the hearing, a substitute teacher may serve up to 30 consecutive days in place of a regular teacher without possessing a teaching license or permit. The hearing presentation identified the statutory chapters that prompted the update but did not include a vote; the board is expected to consider final reading of the rules at its quarterly meeting on Nov. 21, 2025.
The rulemaking hearing notice and a redline version of the proposed rule are posted on the state board’s website, Soupeh said. No members of the public registered for comments during the hearing.
The hearing was recorded and will be provided to State Board members for review prior to the board’s anticipated final-reading vote. If the board approves the rules on final reading, they will be sent to the attorney general’s office for approval, published with the secretary of state for 90 days, and go before the joint government operations committee of the Tennessee House and Senate.