Pursuant to T.C.A. § 49-6-1026, Tennessee school districts are authorized to offer an elective course on a nonsectarian, nonreligious, academic study of the Bible that aligns with the Tennessee Bible Standards. Currently, there is no curriculum or textbook approved for Bible by the State Textbook and Instructional Materials Quality Commission. Instead, Bible courses are intended to align to the 2009 academic standards, see link above, that are adopted by the State Board of Education. 

There are no LEAs that currently have independently developed curriculum for Bible that has been approved by the Department of Education. Additionally, LEAs may apply for a Bible specific special course during the annual review period conducted by the TDOE, Office of Academics. In summary, the following LEAs offer an approved Bible course (G01H25) aligned to the Tennessee Bible Standards in the 2023-2024 academic school year.

For inquiries about the course, please contact humanities.education@tn.gov. For inquiries about curriculum materials pertinent to the course, please contact Tennessee.textbooks@tn.gov. 

The following LEAs have indicated their intent to offer a course aligned to the Tennessee Bible Standards:

• Alvin C. York Institute
• Anderson County
• Arlington
• Bledsoe County Schools
• Bradley County
• West Carroll Special School District
• Coffee County
• Collierville
• Crockett County
• DeKalb County
• Fayette County 
  
• Greene County
  
• Hamilton County
• Hickman County
  
• Jefferson County
  
• Johnson County
• Kingsport
• Knox County
• Lakeland School System
• McMinn County
  
• Macon County
• Jackson-Madison County
• Marion County
• Morgan County
• Overton County
• Rhea County
  
• Rutherford County
• Sequatchie County
• Sevier County
• Sumner County
• Tipton County
• Washington County
• White County
• Wilson County
  

Updated: November 13, 2023