End School Corporal Punishment

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Tennessee

Legal in public schools

1,031 students in 2021-22; 616 in 2023-24 (down 40 percent, after the 2023 documentation law). No bill in the 2025-26 session by caption search. Jackson County: a teacher and assistant principal were indicted in November 2023 after two paddlings injured a student; outcome not found.

The law

T.C.A. § 49-6-4103 (as amended by Public Chapter 275, 2023), § 49-6-4104 text

Private schools are not covered.

Limits

  • Before corporal punishment the educator must document having addressed the behavior, provided consequences, consulted the parent, and considered whether to evaluate the student for a disability (Public Chapter 275, effective April 28, 2023)
  • No corporal punishment on a student with a disability unless district policy permits it and the parent gives written permission specifying type and circumstances, with notice each time (HB 2330, 2018)
  • Each local board adopts rules to implement and control any form of corporal punishment (§ 49-6-4104)

Bills

  • SB 972 / HB 995 (Pub. Ch. 275) (2023), Sen. Bill Powers (R), Rep. John Stevens (R); co-primes Sens. Akbari, Campbell: Documentation prerequisites before corporal punishment; Senate 32-0, House 90-0, signed April 28, 2023 signed record
  • SB 1788 / HB 1965 (2024), Sen. Heidi Campbell (D), Rep. Jason Powell (D): Full ban removing statutory authorization; SB 1788 failed for lack of a second in Senate Education March 13, 2024; HB 1965 taken off notice failed record

Sources: 1 2 3 · verified 2026-09-09

Students struck

YearStudentsBlackBoysWith disabilitiesPer 1,000
2017-183,7651,101
2021-221,0312628721391.04
2023-2461696521980.64

US Department of Education Civil Rights Data Collection. Students, not incidents; 2023-24 computed by this project from the raw file.

Counties

Tennessee has 141 school districts in 95 counties. Each district is drawn in the colour of its own policy; hover one for its name and rule, click to jump to its row. Counties show through where no district is recorded yet.
Scott Sequatchie Bledsoe Giles Chester Trousdale Gibson Benton Lewis Madison Washington Crockett Hancock Smith Loudon Shelby Houston Johnson Meigs Cocke Dickson Grainger Hawkins Henderson Haywood Tipton McNairy Perry Maury Sevier Polk Dyer Coffee Warren Sumner Anderson Clay Greene Fentress Overton Obion Blount Carroll Henry Campbell Jefferson DeKalb Stewart White Humphreys Hardeman Carter Robertson Bradley Weakley Williamson Pickett Lawrence Putnam Davidson Wilson Union Fayette Franklin Marion Rutherford Hickman Cumberland Hardin Lake Roane Grundy Moore Cannon McMinn Montgomery Wayne Decatur Bedford Hamblen Jackson Monroe Unicoi Lincoln Marshall Hamilton Lauderdale Morgan Claiborne Sullivan Knox Van Buren Macon Rhea Cheatham
Mixed: some districts here prohibit it, some permit it (3)A district's policy allows it (36)Parental consent required (3)No written rule found; the district reports using it (28)Every sourced district prohibits it (16)No district recorded yet: state law applies (9)

The map is counties, and most counties hold several districts: green when every recorded district prohibits it, striped when some prohibit and some permit, red when a district permits it. The table below is district by district. Counties take the state's status unless a recorded district differs. Boundaries: US Census Bureau (public domain). District policies with a source link are verified; the rest were carried over from the original map and are being re-checked.

Districts

116 of 141 Tennessee districts listed; 116 checked against the district's own policy. The rest are marked not checked: the pre-2026 map carried a status for them with no source, and the first ones re-checked in 2026 were wrong more often than not, so those values are shown only as a note and are not used to colour the map. Help check this state.

"Struck 2023-24" is the district's own figure from its own Civil Rights Data Collection filing, joined by federal district id. A blank means the district is not among the 832 the collection names, which can mean it reported none or that it reported nothing at all — the public-use file does not distinguish the two, so no claim is made either way.

DistrictCountyPaddlingStruck 2023-24PhonesAIHS startSourceVerified
AlcoaBlountNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
ArlingtonShelbyNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Bedford CountyBedfordNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Benton CountyBentonAllowspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Bledsoe CountyBledsoeAllows6.314 records_request2026-10-15
Blount CountyBlountAllowspolicy found & read2026-09-25
BradfordGibsonAllowspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Bradley CountyBradleyAllowspolicy found & read2026-09-25
BristolSullivanNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Cannon CountyCannonNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Carter CountyCarterNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Cheatham CountyCheathamNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Chester CountyChesterAllows6.314 own manual2026-09-25
Clay CountyClayNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
ClevelandBradleyAllowspolicy found & read2026-09-25
ClintonAndersonNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Cocke CountyCockeNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Coffee County SchoolsCoffeeAllowspolicy found & read2026-09-25
ColliervilleShelbyNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Crockett CountyCrockettNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Cumberland CountyCumberlandAllows6.314 own manual2026-09-25
DaytonRheaNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Decatur CountyDecaturAllowspolicy via crew2026-09-30
Dekalb CountyDeKalbAllowspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Dickson CountyDicksonNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Dyer CountyDyerNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
DyersburgDyerProhibits6.314 via crew2026-10-04
EtowahMcMinnAllows6.314 own manual2026-09-25
FayettevilleLincolnAllowspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Fentress CountyFentressAllowspolicy via crew2026-10-04
Franklin CountyFranklinConsent requiredpolicy found & read2026-09-25
GermantownShelbyNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Giles CountyGilesAllowspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Grainger CountyGraingerNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Greene CountyGreeneAllows6.314 via crew2026-10-04
Grundy CountyGrundyNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Hamblen CountyHamblenNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Hamilton County SchoolsHamiltonAllowspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Hancock CountyHancockProhibitspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Hardeman County SchoolsHardemanNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Hardin CountyHardinAllows6.314 via crew2026-10-04
Hawkins CountyHawkinsProhibits6.314 via crew2026-10-04
Haywood CountyHaywoodAllowspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Henry CountyHenryProhibitspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Hickman CountyHickmanNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Hollow Rock - BrucetonCarrollAllows6.314 via crew2026-10-04
Houston CountyHoustonProhibits6.314 via crew2026-10-04
Humboldt City SchoolsGibsonNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Humphreys CountyHumphreysAllows6.314 via crew2026-10-04
Jackson CountyJacksonProhibitspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Jefferson CountyJeffersonNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Johnson CityWashingtonProhibitspolicy found & read2026-09-25
KingsportSullivanNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Knox County SchoolsKnoxNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Lake CountyLakeNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
LakelandShelbyProhibitspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Lauderdale CountyLauderdaleNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Lawrence CountyLawrenceAllows6.314 via crew2026-10-04
LebanonWilsonProhibitspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Lenoir CityLoudonNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Lewis CountyLewisAllows29policy via crew2026-09-22
LexingtonHendersonProhibitspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Lincoln CountyLincolnConsent requiredpolicy found & read2026-09-25
Macon CountyMaconAllows6.314 via crew2026-10-04
Madison CountyMadisonProhibitspolicy found & read2026-09-25
ManchesterCoffeeNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Marion CountyMarionAllows6.314 via crew2026-10-04
Marshall CountyMarshallConsent required1326.314 via crew2026-09-22
Maury County SchoolsMauryNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
McKenzieCarrollAllowspolicy found & read2026-09-25
McMinn CountyMcMinnAllowspolicy found & read2026-09-25
McNairy CountyMcNairyAllowspolicy found & read2026-09-24
Meigs CountyMeigsAllows6.314 via crew2026-10-04
Memphis-Shelby County SchoolsShelbyProhibitspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Metro Nashville Public SchoolsDavidsonProhibitspolicy via crew2026-10-04
MilanGibsonNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Millington Municipal SchoolsShelbyNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Monroe CountyMonroeNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Montgomery CountyMontgomeryProhibitsINS-A083 records_request2026-10-15
Moore CountyMooreProhibitspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Morgan CountyMorganAllowspolicy found & read2026-09-25
MurfreesboroRutherfordProhibitspolicy records_request2026-10-12
NewportCockeNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Oak RidgeAndersonNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Obion CountyObionAllowspolicy found & read2026-09-25
OneidaScottProhibits6.314 via crew2026-10-04
Overton CountyOvertonAllows26policy via crew2026-09-22
ParisHenryConsent required296.314 via crew2026-09-22
Polk CountyPolkAllows6.314 via crew2026-10-04
Putnam County SchoolsPutnamAllows6.314 via crew2026-10-04
Rhea CountyRheaNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Richard CityMarionAllows6.314 own manual2026-09-25
Roane CountyRoaneProhibitspolicy records_request2026-10-13
Robertson CountyRobertsonProhibits6.314 via crew2026-10-04
RogersvilleHawkinsProhibits6.314 via crew2026-10-04
Rutherford CountyRutherfordNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Sequatchie CountySequatchieAllows6.314 own manual2026-09-25
Sevier CountySevierProhibits6.314 via crew2026-10-04
Shelby County SchoolsShelbyProhibitspolicy via crew2026-10-04
Smith CountySmithAllowsJDB own manual2026-09-24
Sullivan CountySullivanNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Sumner CountySumnerNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
SweetwaterMonroeAllowspolicy found & read2026-09-24
Tipton CountyTiptonNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
TrentonGibsonProhibitspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Trousdale CountyTrousdaleNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
TullahomaCoffeeNo written rulepolicy found & read2026-09-26
Union CityObionAllows6.314 own manual2026-09-25
Union CountyUnionConsent requiredpolicy found & read2026-09-25
Warren County SchoolsWarrenProhibitspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Washington CountyWashingtonAllowspolicy found & read2026-09-25
Wayne CountyWayneAllows6.314 own manual2026-09-25
Weakley CountyWeakleyAllowspolicy found & read2026-09-25
White CountyWhiteAllows6.314 via crew2026-10-04
Williamson CountyWilliamsonProhibits6.314 via crew2026-10-04
Wilson CountyWilsonProhibits6.314 via crew2026-10-04

In the news

Do something

Lend your standing

Tennessee answers public-records requests only from its own residents. If you live here, join the FOIA Request Exchange and a request for a district's policy can be made in your name. You are copied on everything.

Parents

File the written refusal with your child's school. In this state the burden is on you to say no; the school must honor it.

Everyone

Write the board or your legislator with the numbers above. The templates cite only verified facts.

Agents

Every district in this state needs a sourced policy entry. The district scan takes about an hour per 40 districts.