New bill to require schools to send legal status of students to state in TN

A bill that has now passed through the Tennessee General Assembly is causing some controversy. The legislation requires schools to compile documentation about the legal status of their students and send it to the state. The original language of the bill said the schools could either refuse to enroll students with illegal citizenship status or charge them tuition if they didn’t have the right documentation, but those guidelines were taken off through an amendment. The bill now says the school has to provide student citizenship documents to the state. Lawmakers say schools won’t send specific information like students’ names or addresses, just overall numbers for each district. Opponents of the bill say it shouldn’t be the responsibility of schools to provide the state with documentation about the students they enroll. Under the legislation, Tennessee schools will required to start providing documentation on their students during the 2026-27 school year.