Tennessee Code Annotated
Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-5-503 (2026)
Tenure
✓ current as of May 2026
Any teacher who meets all of the following requirements is eligible for "tenure":
- (1) Has a degree from an approved four-year college or any career and technical teacher who has the equivalent amount of training established and licensed by the state board of education;
- (2) Holds a valid teacher license, issued by the state board of education, based on training covering the subjects or grades taught;
- (3) Has completed a probationary period of five (5) school years or not less than forty-five (45) months within the last seven-year period, the last two (2) years being employed in a regular teaching position rather than an interim teaching position;
- (4) Has received evaluations demonstrating a level of overall effectiveness of "above expectations" or "significantly above expectations" as provided in the evaluation guidelines and rules adopted by the state board of education pursuant to § 49-1-302, during the last two (2) years of the probationary period; provided, however, that a teacher who has met all other requirements for tenure eligibility but has not acquired an official evaluation score during the last one (1) or two (2) years of the probationary period due to an approved extended leave; transfer to another school or position within the school district; unavailable data due to the cancellation of Tennessee comprehensive assessment program (TCAP) tests as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; or invalidated data due to a successful local level evaluation grievance pursuant to § 49-1-302(d)(2)(A) may utilize the most recent two (2) years of available evaluation scores achieved during the probationary period to meet this subdivision (4); and
- (5) Is reemployed by the director of schools for service after the probationary period.
Amended by 2021EX1 Tenn. Acts, ch. 2, s 13, eff. 2/3/2021.
Amended by 2015 Tenn. Acts, ch. 158, s 6, eff. 4/16/2015.
Acts 1951, ch. 76, § 3 (Williams, § 2345.3); modified; Acts 1971, ch. 22, §§ 1, 2; 1977, ch. 33, § 1; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 49-1402; Acts 1987, ch. 308, § 25; 2011 , ch. 70, § 7.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 24
cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1987–2021 · leading case: Bowden v. Memphis Bd. of Educ., 29 S.W.3d 462 (Tenn. 2000).
Bowden v. Memphis Bd. of Educ., 29 S.W.3d 462 (Tenn. 2000). “§ 49-5-504(b) is required before a teacher attains permanent tenure, even when the teacher has satisfied the provisions set forth in Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-5-503 (2)(A)-(D). A basic principle of statutory construction is to ascertain and give effect to legislative intent without…”
Lyons v. Rasar, 872 S.W.2d 895 (Tenn. 1994). “Tenn.Code Ann. § 49-5-503(2)(A), (B), (C), and (D) (1990) (emphasis added).”
Saundra Thompson v. Memphis City Schs. Bd. of Educ., 395 S.W.3d 616 (Tenn. 2012). “§ 49-5-503. It is undisputed that Ms. Thompson attained permanent tenure prior to the events giving rise to this appeal.”
Reed v. Washington Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 756 S.W.2d 250 (Tenn. 1988). “The Board notes that T.C.A. § 49-5-503 establishes four prerequisites to permanent tenure for a teacher in the public schools of this State.”
Joe D. Pennycuff v. Fentress Cnty. Bd. of Educ. & Homer Lee Linder, Jr., Superintendent of Fentress Cnty. Schs., 404 F.3d 447 (6th Cir. 2005). “§ 49-5-504(b) then provides: Upon completion of the probationary period, any teacher who is reemployed or retained in the system is entitled to the tenure status for which such teacher is qualified by college training and licensing; provided, that the director of schools shall…”
Ray v. Bd. of Educ., 72 S.W.3d 657 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2001). “Plaintiff filed a motion for partial summary judgment in which she argued that the undisputed material facts showed she had attained tenure at the end of the 1997-98 school year because she had met the statutory requirements for tenure found at Tenn.Code Ann. § 49-5-503. 2 In…”
Reeves v. Etowah City Sch. Bd. of Educ., 806 S.W.2d 176 (Tenn. 1991). “Tenn.Code Ann. § 49-5-503(2)(A), (B), (C), and (D).”
Jones v. Brown, 727 S.W.2d 497 (Tenn. 1987). “The Act, T.C.A. § 49-5-503, sets out the four prerequisites for "permanent tenure.”
Preston Barbee v. Union City Bd. of Educ., 559 F. App'x 450 (6th Cir. 2014). “See Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-5-503 (2010). Neither the Board of Education nor Director Houston had the power to waive those statutory conditions.”
Rowe v. Bd. of Educ., 938 S.W.2d 351 (Tenn. 1996). “Tenn.Code Ann. § 49-5-503 (1996). Moreover, Rowe’s attempts to attain future employment with the Chattanooga system does not rise to the level of a “legitimate claim of entitlement,” but is more accurately described as a “unilateral expectation” or an “abstract need or desire”…”
Penny Moore v. The Bd. of Educ. of the Johnson City Schs. Dr. R. Mike Simmons, Superintendent of the Johnson City Schs., 134 F.3d 781 (6th Cir. 1998). “§ 794 (a); the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution; and the Tennessee Teacher Tenure Act, Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 49-5-503 (2)(C) and 49-5-504.”
Malone v. Shelby Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 773 S.W.2d 256 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1989). “In order for a teacher in the public schools of Tennessee to obtain tenure the teacher must meet the requirements of T.C.A. § 49-5-503. That code section is as follows: § 49-5-503.”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-5-503(1) — 2 cases
Jones v. Brown, 727 S.W.2d 497 (Tenn. 1987). “The Act, T.C.A. § 49-5-503, sets out the four prerequisites for "permanent tenure.”
Reed v. Washington Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 756 S.W.2d 250 (Tenn. 1988). “The Board notes that T.C.A. § 49-5-503 establishes four prerequisites to permanent tenure for a teacher in the public schools of this State.”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-5-503(2) — 7 cases
Bowden v. Memphis Bd. of Educ., 29 S.W.3d 462 (Tenn. 2000). “§ 49-5-504(b) is required before a teacher attains permanent tenure, even when the teacher has satisfied the provisions set forth in Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-5-503 (2)(A)-(D). A basic principle of statutory construction is to ascertain and give effect to legislative intent without…”
Saundra Thompson v. Memphis City Schs. Bd. of Educ., 395 S.W.3d 616 (Tenn. 2012). “§ 49-5-503. It is undisputed that Ms. Thompson attained permanent tenure prior to the events giving rise to this appeal.”
Ray v. Bd. of Educ., 72 S.W.3d 657 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2001). “Plaintiff filed a motion for partial summary judgment in which she argued that the undisputed material facts showed she had attained tenure at the end of the 1997-98 school year because she had met the statutory requirements for tenure found at Tenn.Code Ann. § 49-5-503. 2 In…”
Joe D. Pennycuff v. Fentress Cnty. Bd. of Educ. & Homer Lee Linder, Jr., Superintendent of Fentress Cnty. Schs., 404 F.3d 447 (6th Cir. 2005). “§ 49-5-504(b) then provides: Upon completion of the probationary period, any teacher who is reemployed or retained in the system is entitled to the tenure status for which such teacher is qualified by college training and licensing; provided, that the director of schools shall…”
Pamela Dallas v. Shelby Cnty. Bd. of Educ. (Tenn. Ct. App. 2019).
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-5-503(2)(A) — 5 cases
Lyons v. Rasar, 872 S.W.2d 895 (Tenn. 1994). “Tenn.Code Ann. § 49-5-503(2)(A), (B), (C), and (D) (1990) (emphasis added).”
Bowden v. Memphis Bd. of Educ., 29 S.W.3d 462 (Tenn. 2000). “§ 49-5-504(b) is required before a teacher attains permanent tenure, even when the teacher has satisfied the provisions set forth in Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-5-503 (2)(A)-(D). A basic principle of statutory construction is to ascertain and give effect to legislative intent without…”
Joe D. Pennycuff v. Fentress Cnty. Bd. of Educ. & Homer Lee Linder, Jr., Superintendent of Fentress Cnty. Schs., 404 F.3d 447 (6th Cir. 2005). “§ 49-5-504(b) then provides: Upon completion of the probationary period, any teacher who is reemployed or retained in the system is entitled to the tenure status for which such teacher is qualified by college training and licensing; provided, that the director of schools shall…”
Reeves v. Etowah City Sch. Bd. of Educ., 806 S.W.2d 176 (Tenn. 1991). “Tenn.Code Ann. § 49-5-503(2)(A), (B), (C), and (D).”
Ray v. Bd. of Educ., 72 S.W.3d 657 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2001). “Plaintiff filed a motion for partial summary judgment in which she argued that the undisputed material facts showed she had attained tenure at the end of the 1997-98 school year because she had met the statutory requirements for tenure found at Tenn.Code Ann. § 49-5-503. 2 In…”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-5-503(2)(B) — 1 case
Lyons v. Rasar, 872 S.W.2d 895 (Tenn. 1994). “Tenn.Code Ann. § 49-5-503(2)(A), (B), (C), and (D) (1990) (emphasis added).”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-5-503(2)(C) — 2 cases
Joe D. Pennycuff v. Fentress Cnty. Bd. of Educ. & Homer Lee Linder, Jr., Superintendent of Fentress Cnty. Schs., 404 F.3d 447 (6th Cir. 2005). “§ 49-5-504(b) then provides: Upon completion of the probationary period, any teacher who is reemployed or retained in the system is entitled to the tenure status for which such teacher is qualified by college training and licensing; provided, that the director of schools shall…”
Reeves v. Etowah City Sch. Bd. of Educ., 806 S.W.2d 176 (Tenn. 1991). “Tenn.Code Ann. § 49-5-503(2)(A), (B), (C), and (D).”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-5-503(2)(D) — 1 case
Reeves v. Etowah City Sch. Bd. of Educ., 806 S.W.2d 176 (Tenn. 1991). “Tenn.Code Ann. § 49-5-503(2)(A), (B), (C), and (D).”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-5-503(4) — 1 case
Preston Barbee v. Union City Bd. of Educ., 559 F. App'x 450 (6th Cir. 2014). “See Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-5-503 (2010). Neither the Board of Education nor Director Houston had the power to waive those statutory conditions.”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-5-503(a) — 1 case
Pamela Dallas v. Shelby Cnty. Bd. of Educ. (Tenn. Ct. App. 2019).
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