(a) Teachers in service and under the control of the public elementary or high schools of this state may continue in such service unless written notice is sent to the teacher from the teacher’s board of education or director of schools, as appropriate, of the teacher’s dismissal or failure of reelection.
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 49-5-409

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. Source:
  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b)

(1) The notice must be sent within five (5) business days following the last instructional day for the school year to be applicable to the next succeeding school year; provided, that the director of schools may transfer any teacher from one (1) position to another at the director’s option. Nothing contained in this section shall affect any rights that may have accrued, or may hereafter accrue, on behalf of any teachers or principals in any local school system under any law providing a tenure of office for the teachers and principals.
(2) If a teacher’s dismissal or failure of reelection is due only to a loss of funding for the position, then the local board of education or director of schools, as appropriate, shall state in the notice required under this section that the only reason for dismissing the teacher or not reelecting the teacher’s contract for the next succeeding school year is a loss of funding for the position.
(c) Nothing in this section shall prohibit a board from abolishing a position after June 15, for sufficient, just and nondiscriminatory reasons; provided, that the person holding the position is notified immediately in writing stating the reasons for abolishing the position and the person is entitled to the next position that the person is qualified to hold and that opens within the school system during the remainder of the school year. The determination of whether a teacher is qualified for an open position shall be made by the director of schools, and the teacher’s most recent evaluations may be a factor in such determination.
(d) Written notice sent by a board of education or director of schools in accordance with this section must be sent by certified mail or overnight carrier to the teacher’s physical mailing address on record with the LEA, or transmitted via electronic mail to the email address used by the LEA to communicate with the teacher.
(e) As used in this section, “last instructional day” means the last day of the school year on which students are required to report to school.
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