2026 Spring Legal Conference- West TN - April 7th

Location: Bartlett Baptist 3465 Kirby Whitten Pkwy. Bartlett

Speakers: SCott Bennett & Taylor JEnkins

Registration and Agenda coming soon

Files coming soon.

Keynote Speakers

Scott bennett

Mr. Bennett has represented school boards, other local governments, police officers, and private employers for more than 25 years. After practicing in a regional litigation firm for most of his career, Mr. Bennett concluded that clients need, and deserve, a more personal connection with their attorneys. Ms. DeCamp and he have built Bennett & DeCamp around the purpose of providing high quality, personally focused legal representation to value conscious community leaders and businesses.

taylor jenkins

Mr. Jenkins is Deputy General Counsel in the Tennessee Department of Education Office of General Counsel. He primarily focuses on issues involving special education and litigation. Prior to joining the Department, Taylor worked in the Education and Employment Division of the Office of the Tennessee Attorney General, where he represented state agencies, departments, and universities in federal and state court, including the Department in multiple IDEA lawsuits. Taylor graduated from Duke University in 2012 and Vanderbilt University Law School in 2015.

We want to hear from you

Individualized Education Accounts

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.

Functional Behavior Assessments/ Behavior Intervention Plan

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.

Related Service Provider Class size and Caseload

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.

Link to public comment on proposed rules https://www.tn.gov/sbe/meetings/meetings-

Contact Us

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.