New Tennessee law requires schools establish visitor code of conduct

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — School is back in session, and this year, students and staff aren’t the only ones required to abide by a code of conduct — parents and other visitors will also have to follow a set of rules set by the district.

A new bipartisan law, sponsored by Rep. Antonio Parkinson (D-Memphis), mandates school boards adopt a code of conduct for parents and other guests who visit campus. The proposal passed last legislative session and went into effect for the 2024-2025 school year.

“Our students and the staff at the schools and everyone that works in the schools, they have their expected code of conduct that’s given to them either when they’re hired or when the children come into the classrooms, but no one has ever laid out what those rules should look like for those people that are visiting our campuses,” Rep. Parkinson said.

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Parkinson came up with the idea for the law requiring school boards to create a visitor code of conduct after hearing reports from school leaders and staff of parents, siblings, vendors, and other guests behaving poorly at schools across the state.

“They’d come on the campus, and sometimes you would have disruptions, sometimes you would have distractions, sometimes people would come into the office and have arguments with principals, teachers, fights being threatened,” Parkinson said. “Just kind of ratchet behavior, and what we wanted with this legislation was to tone it down; tone down the rhetoric.”

Schools across Tennessee have implemented their own visitor code of conduct and posted them on their district’s website, required under the law.

Districts, including Rutherford County Schools and Cheatham County Schools have more general codes of conduct that ban “cursing and the use of obscenities, disrupting or threatening to disrupt school of office operations, acting in an unsafe manner that could threaten the health or safety of others,” among other behaviors.

Claiborne County Schools outlined rules prohibiting gambling and encouraging others to gamble in its visitor code of conduct, in addition to banning audio or video recording where there is an expectation of privacy, including in classrooms and locker rooms.

Cumberland County Schools also banned visitors from the “misuse of social media to fuel campaigns and complaints against schools, school staff, and/or other parents/students through social networking and websites,” according to the district’s visitor code of conduct.

While some of the rules listed on districts’ visitor codes of conduct may seem unspoken, Parkinson told News 2 one cannot assume people have been taught about proper behavior on school campuses.

“That’s unfortunate, but I think it’s important we lay it out so it’s explicitly clear what we need, and expected conduct and behavior that’s needed when you come onto our school campuses,” Parkinson said.

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The law requires school districts to post the visitor code of conduct online, distribute copies to school staff and parents, and post a copy to the school along with a phone number of a school administrator who can answer questions regarding the code of conduct. An attorney must review the code of conduct’s legality and constitutionality.

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