Tennessee Weighs Loosening Rules to Remove'Disruptive' Students with Disabilities from Classrooms

Stock photo of a classroom (Photo by Unsplash)

This month, the public will have an opportunity to provide input on a proposed change that would give schools more freedom to temporarily remove students with disabilities from regular classrooms.

Existing federal and state laws require students with disabilities to be educated alongside non-disabled students to the “maximum extent” appropriate. Laws allow removing these students only if their individualized education program (IEP) team determines the disability prevents the school from satisfactorily educating them in a regular class.

A proposed change now under consideration by the Tennessee State Board of Education would alter existing guidance to allow schools to move students who are a “disruptive force” out of the classroom. This change would additionally allow such removals to occur when schools are conducting a functional behavior assessment (FBA) or creating a behavior intervention plan (BIP).

Both FBAs and BIPs occur when students exhibit behavior that impedes learning or places students at risk.

“Basically, what we’re trying to say here is that the IEP team can determine that a student’s least restrictive environment is a more restrictive environment based on his or her behavior at that time,” said Tennessee Department of Education Assistant Commissioner Jennifer Jordan during a meeting last month.

How to Provide Comments

The Tennessee State Board of Education is welcoming public comments on the proposed rule change at its meeting on July 24.

Members of the public can either sign up to speak at the meeting in person or email comments directly to the board. Any written comments must be received by 9 A.M. Central Time on July 29, 2025.

Cautious Support from Disability Advocates

The proposal is receiving cautious support from advocates with the Tennessee Disability Coalition (TDC).

Jeff Strand (Photo by the Tennessee Disability Coalition)

“Evaluations are time and resource intensive, and if those behaviors are so extremely disruptive or unsafe in the setting the student is currently in, that setting could impede the evaluation process and make learning difficult for all students in the classroom,” said TDC Director of Public Policy Jeff Strand. “So in a case like that, moving a student to a more restrictive special education setting during an evaluation or the IEP process might be the most appropriate option.”

Strand tells the Tennessee Firefly that it’s important for schools not to “rush into this option” though, if the rule change passes. He says it’s important that any move is made with the full consent of the IEP team and from parents.

He also points out that parents have the right to request an IEP meeting to contest any decision to remove their student from a traditional classroom.

 “Moving a student to a more restrictive setting is a big deal, and this rule change should not be taken as permission to do this routinely or without trying other options first,” said Strand.

Time Limit Remains Under Discussion

Multiple members of the State Board of Education expressed some reservations about how long students could remain out of a traditional classroom under the rule change.

Representatives from the Department of Education told board members last May that the student’s IEP team would determine the time frame, with a recommended guidance varying from 30 to 60 days.

East Tennessee Board Member Jordan Mollenhour questioned whether the existing language in the rule change might open the door for misuse.

“A group of teachers may just be frustrated with a particular child and remove them for as long as possible from their classroom, because they just don’t want to deal with it. I think we need to guard against that behavior as well,” said Mollenhour.

TDOE staff agreed to add language into the rule change to address those concerns before the board approves it.