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As a recovering teacher at the high school, community college, and university levels, Karen is passionate about high-quality public education. Oh, and her husband, David, happens to be a teacher too! Karen’s a yoga nut, dog enthusiast, avid Husker fan and an outspoken advocate for the elimination of the Oxford comma. Karen has been practicing school law for long enough that if there is a legal problem facing a school, Karen has probably dealt with it at least once. Karen relies on these experiences to provide realistic, practical solutions to complex legal problems, and she’s always ready for the tough and “totally hypothetical” questions.
Chris W. McCarty, a shareholder in our Knoxville office, focuses his practice in employment law, education law, and civil litigation. He represents clients in both state and federal courts across Tennessee and is recognized as a Rule 31 Mediator. Chris is also a trained arbitrator.
Prior to his legal career, Chris taught eighth-grade United States history at Seymour Middle School in Seymour, Tennessee. He now serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Tennessee College of Law. Chris is passionate about education, school safety, their intersection with the law, and the overall advancement of public education.
It has been brought to TAASE’s attention that there is a growing fiscal impact with the number of students participating in the IEA programs. Students participating in IEA programs may be eligible for a service plan and the student’s special education eligibility should be reevaluated at least every three years. More information about TN Individualized Education Account Program can be found at Individualized Education Account Program (tn.gov). If your district has any concerns regarding IEA programs please complete this link.
During the TAASE conference Taylor Jenkins mentioned that TDOE is considering proposing changes to the FBA/BIP State Board Guidelines. If you have any concerns, questions or considerations regarding the guidance on FBA/BIP from TDOE and the rules in State Board please complete this link. If you need more information about State Board rule regarding FBA/BIP you can find that in Chapter 0520-01-09-.24 (pg. 27). We have linked it for your convenience.
To better capture the current workload of our special educators and our service providers, the department is requesting feedback on caseload and class size. Caseload refers to the total number of students for whom the teacher and/or service provider has some degree of responsibility. Class size refers to the number of students a teacher instructs at any given time. Current standards for Special Education class size and caseload from the Tennessee State Board of Education (SBE 3.206, revised 08/04/2023) can be found here.
The Tennessee Association for Administrators in Special Education serves special education directors, supervisors, and other special education administrators throughout the state. TAASE does this by keeping its membership current on legislation impacting special education and by hosting an annual legal issues conference each December. TAASE membership is restricted to educational professionals who have administrative or supervisory responsibilities for programs for students with disabilities.