The Hamilton County Board of Education is set to vote Thursday on a resolution requesting the Tennessee General Assembly to amend the third-grade retention law and allow school districts to make retention decisions for third- and fourth-grade students.
The law, which took effect in the 2022–23 school year, requires third graders who do not score proficiently on the English language arts portion of the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program to receive additional tutoring or risk retention. That tutoring would take place in the summer and possibly during the student's fourth-grade year.
Republican board member Gary Kuehn, of Ooltewah, and Democrat board member Ben Connor, of Chattanooga, are sponsoring the resolution.
"Many, many teachers and many, many parents have contacted me or called or sent emails regarding their opposition to this law," Kuehn said in a phone call. "So our job as board members is to best represent the students and the parents and the teachers. And I don't think this law does."
The resolution urges the General Assembly to amend the law.
"Retention based solely on one data point could have adverse effects" on students, the resolution states, especially those with disabilities and those who are economically disadvantaged.
It also states that because the assessment is administered only weeks before summer break, school systems and families -- who've already made summer plans -- are not given adequate notice.
The resolution also cites insufficient funding for the added instruction as a reason to amend the law.
The retention law has garnered criticism both locally and across the state.
"I think our legislature is working to try to come up with a way to hold schools accountable for the success of students," Kuehn said. "I also think they're trying to figure out a way to get parents more involved in the early education of their children, but this isn't the appropriate way to do it."
In September, Cortney Fugate, a Hamilton County teacher, launched a petition calling on Tennessee legislators to reconsider. It has since amassed more than 2,600 signatures.
Fugate went before the school board in December to ask members to submit a resolution.
"Parents, teachers and students in Hamilton County need to know that our school board supports students and not the new retention law," Fugate told board members at December's board meeting.
At a September literacy summit in Collegedale, state Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, said the consequences of a child not learning to read are significant for adult society.
"The consequences are a lot greater for society than they are for teachers," Watson said in an interview at the summit. "The consequences are huge for workforce development, they're huge for economic community development. So the consequences of not doing this are much greater."
The board has taken no action until now. If adopted Thursday, Hamilton County Schools will be among several districts across the state to have passed similar resolutions, including Metro Nashville Public Schools and Knox County.
As it stands, 62% of third graders are not yet proficient in English language arts, according to the district's latest benchmark scores. That includes students with disabilities, English language learners and those who have already been retained -- students otherwise exempt from the retention law.
District officials previously told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that they do not expect to retain a significant number of students. However, they are required to provide additional tutoring.
"The good news is, is this law is requiring that these kids get extra support, which I do think is something that's needed," Director of Student Acceleration Breckan Duckworth said previously in a phone call.
Under the law, third graders who are approaching English language arts proficiency have the option to participate in a summer bridge program to achieve proficiency or receive high-dosage tutoring throughout their fourth-grade year.
Third graders who are well below English language arts proficiency must participate in both summer bridge programming and high-dosage tutoring in fourth grade.
High-dosage tutoring is one-on-one instruction in small groups at least three times a week, or for about 50 hours over a semester.
But this might change before the school year is over as lawmakers have filed at least 18 proposals to address concerns about the law. Some would remove the law completely, while others would keep the law but extend related state-funded summer and after-school programs.
The House education subcommittee is set to take a first look at the bills Tuesday.
The Times Free Press reached out to Connor for comment but he did not respond before press time.
Contact Carmen Nesbitt at cnesbitt@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6327.