Tennessee legislation · 114th General Assembly
Tennessee HB1886: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, relative to acceptable uses of technology provided by public schools.
Status: Chaptered, May 26, 2026
Fiscal Summary OTHER FISCAL IMPACT Implementation costs depend on existing vendor contracts and renewal cycles. Some LEAs and public charter schools may need to renegotiate contract terms, purchase additional services or licenses, or change vendors to meet the revised requirements, either for new contracts upon the effective date of the legislation or when current contracts expire. The proposed legislation requires an annual compliance audit and publication of audit results, and although a qualifying e-rate audit may be used, it is unknown whether LEAs and public charter schools currently undergo a qualifying audit or will need to procure additional third-party audit services; therefore, any mandatory increase to local expenditures is indeterminate. Article II, Section 24 of the Tennessee Constitution provides that: no law of general application shall impose increased expenditure requirements on cities or counties unless the General Assembly shall provide that the state share in the cost. Bill Summary Present law requires each LEA to adopt an internet acceptable use policy that includes provisions that: (1) Are designed to prohibit certain inappropriate use by school district employees and students of the school district's computers via the internet; (2) Seek to prevent access by students to material that the school district deems to be harmful to juveniles; (3) Select technology for the LEA's computers having internet access that prevent access to pornography, obscenity, and materials that are harmful to minors; (4) Establish appropriate measures to be taken against persons who violate the policy; (5) Include a component on internet safety for students that is integrated in a school district's instructional program; (6) Encourage communications with parents that raise awareness about internet safety
What the bill says
From the amended text:
Senate Finance, Ways, and Means 2 Amendment No. 3 to SB1912 Watson Signature of Sponsor AMEND S e n ate Bill No. 1912* House Bill No. 1886 by deleting all language after the enacting clause and substituting: SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-1-221, is amended by deleting the section. SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, Chapter 6, Part 3, is amended by adding the following as a new section: (a) (1) Each LEA and public charter school shall adopt an internet acceptable use policy. At a minimum, the policy must establish: (A) Internet safety protocols for students that are integrated into the LEA's or public charter school's instructional program; (B) Guidelines for effective communication with parents to raise awareness of internet safety using existing avenues of communication, such as parent-teacher conferences; (C) Rules designed to protect the safety and security of students who use the internet access provided by the LEA or public charter school to access email, chat rooms, or any other form of direct, electronic communication online; (D) Safeguards to prevent students from using the internet access provided by the LEA or public charter school to access websites, web applications, or software that does not protect students against the disclosure, use, or dissemination of their personal information; SA1109 (E) Select technology for the LEA's or public …