Tennessee Code Annotated

Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-10-102 (2026)

Chapter definitions

✓ current as of May 2026

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As used in this chapter:

(1) "Child with a disability" means a child between three (3) and twenty-one (21) years of age, both inclusive, who has been evaluated and determined as having a state-identified disability in accordance with the rules and regulations of the state board of education or as having one (1) or more of the following disabilities, as defined in 34 C.F.R. § 300.8: an intellectual disability; a hearing impairment, including deafness; a speech or language impairment; a visual impairment, including blindness; emotional disturbance; an orthopedic impairment; autism; traumatic brain injury; other health impairment; a specific learning disability; developmental delay; deaf-blindness; or multiple disabilities, and who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services. Any child with a disability who turns twenty-two (22) years of age between the commencement of the school year and the conclusion of the school year continues to be a child with a disability for the remainder of that school year;

(2) "Department" means the department of education;

(3) "FAPE" means a free appropriate public education in compliance with the IDEA;

(4) "IDEA" means the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ( 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq.);

(5) "Individualized education program team" or "IEP team" means a group of individuals described in 34 C.F.R. § 300.321 that is responsible for developing, reviewing, or revising an individualized education program (IEP) for a child with a disability;

(6) "LEA" means a local education agency;

(7) "Related services" means:
- (A) Transportation and such developmental, corrective, and other supportive services required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education, including speech-language pathology and audiology services; interpreting services; psychological services; physical and occupational therapy; transition services, including job placement; recreation, including therapeutic recreation; early identification and assessment of disabilities in children; counseling services, including rehabilitation counseling with a focus on career development, employment preparation, achieving independence, and integration in the workplace and community of a child with a disability; orientation and mobility services; and medical services for diagnostic or evaluation purposes;
- (B) School health services and school nurse services, social work services in schools, and parent counseling and training; or
- (C) Other services that may be approved by the state board of education; and

(8) "Special education" means specially designed instruction, at no cost to the parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability, including instruction conducted in the classroom, home, hospitals, institutions, and other settings, and instruction in physical education.

Amended by 2019 Tenn. Acts, ch. 107,s 2, eff. 4/11/2019.

Acts 1972, ch. 839, § 3; 1978, ch. 573, § 1; 1981, ch. 151, § 1; 1981, ch. 281, § 1; T.C.A., § 49-2914; Acts 1988, ch. 677, § 1; 1989, ch. 421, § 1; 1994, ch. 768, § 2; 1998, ch. 832, § 2; 2010, ch. 734, § 4.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 8 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1990–2023 · leading case: F.H. Ex Rel. Hall v. Memphis City Schs., 764 F.3d 638 (6th Cir. 2014).

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F.H. Ex Rel. Hall v. Memphis City Schs., 764 F.3d 638 (6th Cir. 2014). · cites it 2× “Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-10-102 . Because F.H.”

P.G. v. Rutherford Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 313 F. Supp. 3d 891 (M.D. Tenn. 2018). “It is in place "to ensure that every student receiving special education services is free from the unreasonable, unsafe and unwarranted uses of isolation and restraint practices [and] encourage the use of positive behavioral interventions and support methods in schools." Tenn.…”

Brown Ex Rel. Brown v. Wilson Cnty. Sch. Bd., 747 F. Supp. 436 (M.D. Tenn. 1990). · cites it 6× “Tenn.Code Ann. § 49-10-102(1) (1972). The Act is implemented through the “individualized education program” (IEP) which is mandated for each disabled child.”

Wilson Cnty. Sch. Sys. v. Clifton, 41 S.W.3d 645 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2000). · cites it 2× “See Tenn.Code Ann. § 49-10-102(1) (1990). 4 .”

L.H., a minor v. Tennessee Dep't of Educ. (M.D. Tenn. 2019). · cites it 2× “In order to qualify for the IEA program, a child must meet the following requirements: (A) Is a child with any of the following disabilities as defined by the state board of education pursuant to § 49-10-102: (i) Autism; (ii) Deaf-blindness; (iii) Hearing impairments; (iv)…”

M.G. v. Williamson Cty. Sch. (6th Cir. 2018). “See Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 49-10-102 (1)(A) and (4)(C).”

O.B. v. Rutherford Cnty., Tennessee (M.D. Tenn. 2023). “The Tennessee Code states that “[a] student receiving special education services, as defined by § 49-10-102, may be restrained or isolated only in emergency situations.”

E.S. v. Clarksville Montgomery Cnty. Sch. Sys. (M.D. Tenn. 2023). “SEBSA also sets parameters for prohibited use of isolation or restraint in pertinent part as follows: (c) The use of any mechanical restraint on any student receiving special education services, as defined by § 49-10-102, is prohibited. (d) Any form of life-threatening…”

— Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-10-102(1) — 2 cases

Brown Ex Rel. Brown v. Wilson Cnty. Sch. Bd., 747 F. Supp. 436 (M.D. Tenn. 1990). “Tenn.Code Ann. § 49-10-102(1) (1972). The Act is implemented through the “individualized education program” (IEP) which is mandated for each disabled child.”

Wilson Cnty. Sch. Sys. v. Clifton, 41 S.W.3d 645 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2000). “See Tenn.Code Ann. § 49-10-102(1) (1990). 4 .”

— Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-10-102(4) — 1 case

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