Last verified: October 2026
What approval does a new church school need in Tennessee?
Children at an unapproved school are not meeting Tennessee's attendance law, so approval comes first. A church has three routes: join one of the associations state law names and open as Category IV, apply straight to TDOE as Category I or V, or earn accreditation that brings Category II or III.
The direct TDOE route has a fixed season, January through May.
Which category lets East Tennessee families bring EFS to a church school?
Only Categories I, II and III, and only after the school registers for that year. A Category IV school cannot take EFS, though it can enroll students who carry an IEA.
So an East Tennessee church board is choosing between freedom and funding: Category IV loosens state requirements on teachers, textbooks and curriculum, and Category I asks for licensed teachers and yearly tests in grades 3-11 in exchange for EFS eligibility.
What does every Tennessee private school have to do?
Whatever the category, the school background-checks adults who work around children, schedules 180 days of 6.5 instructional hours, sends its enrollment to the local school district and follows health and safety law. Outside Category IV it also needs ten or more school-age students.
Category IV gives one extra option, a homeschool umbrella, and Knox County churches use it heavily.
How does EFS change a new school's budget?
Say a new Category I school in Halls enrolls ten EFS students: at $7,530 apiece that is $75,300 for 2026-27, landing in four quarterly pieces as parents authorize payments. None of it flows until the approval is in place and the school has signed up for the year.
Plan a first-year budget that works with zero EFS students, since the April 30, 2027 sign-up deadline for 2027-28 is firm.
| Category IV (church-related) | Category I (TDOE-approved) | |
|---|---|---|
| How approved | Membership in an association named in state law | Direct application, January-May |
| Teachers | Exempt from certain state rules | Active Tennessee license |
| Testing, grades 3-11 | Exempt from certain state rules | Nationally standardized test every year |
| EFS | Not eligible | Eligible after registering |
| Homeschool umbrella | May operate one | No |