Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 6.

Under present law, attendance in an alternative school or alternative program is mandatory for students in grades 7-12 who have been suspended for more than 10 days or expelled from the regular school program if there is space and staff available. This bill adds that, notwithstanding the above provision, a director of schools, or a director's designee, is not required to assign a student in grades 7-12 who has been suspended for more than 10 days or expelled from the regular school program for an offense of violence or threatened violence, or an offense that threatened the safety of persons attending or assigned to the student's school, to an alternative school or alternative program if the alternative school or alternative program is located on the same grounds as the regular school program from which the student was suspended or expelled. This bill specifies that it does not prohibit a director of schools, or a director's designee, from assigning a student who has been suspended for more than 10 days or expelled from the regular school program for an offense of violence or threatened violence, or an offense that threatened the safety of persons attending or assigned to the student's school, to an alternative school or alternative program. The director of schools, or the director's designee, must determine whether to assign a student to an alternative school or alternative program under this bill on a case-by-case basis.