Present law requires the department of education, in consultation with the department of health, to develop a standardized form on which a student with an allergy may report the allergy to the school in which the student is enrolled. The department of education must make the form available to all LEAs, and an LEA must require each school in the LEA to use the form to maintain a record of any student who has reported having an allergy.
This bill clarifies that the department of education must make the form available to all LEAs on its website.
ON APRIL 4, 2024, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENTS #1 AND #2 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 2820, AS AMENDED.
AMENDMENT #1 rewrites the bill to make the changes described below to the Tennessee Public Charter Schools Act of 2002 and applies to opportunity public charter schools applying to open in the 2026-2027 school year or in a subsequent school year.
OPPORTUNITY PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS
This amendment authorizes an opportunity public charter school to be formed to provide high-quality educational options for students residing within this state.
As used in this amendment, an "opportunity public charter school" means a public charter school serving any of the grades 6 through 12 for which at least 75 percent of the students enrolled in the public charter school, at the time of enrollment, are at-risk students and that provides (i) instruction to students in a traditional classroom setting; or (ii) a residential program for enrolled students and includes instruction to such students in a traditional classroom setting.
This amendment prohibits an opportunity public charter school from charging registration fees, enrollment fees, or tuition to the at-risk students enrolled in the public charter school.
As used in the amendment, an "at-risk student" means a student who, at the time of enrollment in an opportunity public charter school, is a member of a family with a household income that is below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, and meets at least one of the following criteria: (i) the student has dropped out of school without obtaining a high school diploma or a high school equivalency credential; (ii) the student has been adjudicated as a juvenile delinquent or is awaiting disposition of charges that may result in adjudication as a delinquent; (iii) the student has previously been detained or incarcerated in a juvenile detention center; (iv) the student has been retained at least twice in any of the grades K-8, or the student is one or more years behind in obtaining the credit required for promotion to the next grade level or to graduate from high school in four years with the student's cohort; (v) the student is chronically absent, as defined in Tennessee's Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan established pursuant to the Every Student Succeeds Act; (vi) the student is pregnant or mothering; (vii) the student has a documented substance abuse issue; or (viii) the student has experienced circumstances of abuse or neglect.
CREATION OF AN OPPORTUNITY PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL
This amendment requires a sponsor seeking to establish an opportunity public charter school to apply to the local board of education. A sponsor applying to establish an opportunity public charter school must comply with the application process in existing law. This amendment authorizes a sponsor to apply to a local board of education to establish an opportunity public charter school. The application process must be conducted in accordance with existing law. A public school converted to an opportunity public charter school must not give an enrollment preference to students who reside within the former school zone of the converted public school, unless the student is an at-risk student.
This amendment requires the Tennessee investment in student achievement (TISA) formula school funds and the average per pupil local funds received by the LEA in the current school year above those required by the TISA for each student member in the opportunity public charter school in the prior year to follow an at-risk student who transfers to an opportunity public charter school, but who resides in an LEA other than the LEA in which the opportunity public charter school is located, into the LEA in which the opportunity public charter school is located. The receiving LEA must not charge tuition. However, this does not preclude an LEA from entering into an agreement with another LEA whereby additional funds may be transferred from the sending LEA to the receiving LEA for the purpose of educating the child.
This amendment authorizes an opportunity public charter school authorized to serve a student population composed of at-risk students in grades six through 12 through a residential program to be operated as a single-sex school that only enrolls students of a respective sex.
This amendment requires an opportunity public charter school that serves a student population composed of at-risk students in grades six through 12 through a residential program to be operated on a year-round basis, which must not operate to reduce the level of state support to the public charter school. The commissioner of education must make adjustments necessary to accommodate the opportunity public charter school's year-round operation so as not to diminish state financial support. The charter agreement must specify the date by which the school year must commence. Funding for an opportunity public charter school must comply with the law relevant to allocation of state and local funds and federal funds under the Tennessee Public Charter Schools Act of 2002.
This amendment prohibits an opportunity public charter school from opening before the 2026-2027 school year.
RULE PROMULGATION
This amendment authorizes the state board of education, in consultation with the commission, to promulgate rules to effectuate this amendment. Additionally, the state board of education is authorized to promulgate rules to determine whether a student is an "at-risk student" for purposes of this amendment.
APPLICATION PROCESS
On or before February 1 of the year preceding the year in which the proposed public charter school plans to begin operation, present law requires the sponsor seeking to establish a public charter school to prepare and file with the authorizer and the department of education ("department") an application using the application template developed by the department in coordination with the commission and that provides, among other information, a description of the anticipated student enrollment and the nondiscriminatory admission policies. However, this amendment adds to this present law by clarifying that any charter school may be operated as a single-sex school that only enrolls students of a respective sex.
This amendment also adds to the present law by requiring such application to provide a plan for the construction, development, or purchase of residential facilities for a proposed opportunity public charter school, if the proposed opportunity public charter school intends to provide a residential program, including a copy of all required permits, certificates, or other documentation evidencing the sponsor's ability to secure, provide, and safely operate the residential program.
GOVERNING BODY
This amendment authorizes the membership of a governing body for an opportunity public charter school to, but is not required to, include a parent representative; and an advisory school council established by a charter management organization for an opportunity public charter school may, but is not required to, include a parent member.
ENROLLMENT
This amendment requires an opportunity public charter school to enroll an at-risk student who submits a timely application, unless the number of applications exceeds the capacity of a program, class, grade level, or building. Students who attended the opportunity public charter school during the previous year may re-enroll in the opportunity public charter school for the upcoming year and are not subject to an enrollment lottery. If the number of applications exceeds the capacity of a program, class, grade level, or building, then the opportunity public charter school must select students through an enrollment lottery. Returning students who re-enroll in the opportunity public charter school are excluded from entering into an enrollment lottery. Students who are at-risk students must be given an enrollment preference.
REVOCATION OF CHARTER
This amendment authorizes an authorizer of an opportunity public charter school to revoke a public charter school agreement if the public charter school receives identification as a priority school. However, an authorizer must not revoke a public charter school agreement based on the public charter school being identified as a priority school on the priority school list issued in 2022 or 2023. The revocation takes effect immediately following the close of the school year in which the public charter school is identified as a priority school.
This amendment requires the authorizer of an opportunity public charter school to revoke a public charter school agreement if the public charter school receives identification as a priority school for two consecutive cycles. The revocation takes effect immediately following the close of the school year in which the public charter school is identified as a priority school for the second consecutive cycle. The priority school lists issued in 2022 and 2023 must not be considered a priority school and must not subject a public charter school to automatic revocation of its charter agreement.
PERFORMANCE FRAMEWORK
Present law requires the performance-related provisions within a charter agreement to be based on a performance framework that clearly sets forth the academic and operational performance indicators, measures, and metrics that will guide the authorizer's evaluation of each public charter school. The department must develop a model performance framework that includes, at a minimum, student academic performance, achievement gaps between major student subgroups, postsecondary readiness, and financial performance and sustainability. This amendment adds to the present law by requiring the department to also adopt an opportunity public charter school performance framework in alignment with the state board of education's quality authorizing standards.
MISCELLANEOUS
This amendment authorizes a sponsor to apply to open an opportunity public charter school pursuant to the application process outlined in this amendment and the Tennessee Public Charter Schools Act of 2002. However, the department, in consultation with the commission, may develop a specific opportunity public charter school application.
This amendment requires the state board of education to promulgate rules to establish an annual evaluation of the at-risk student enrollment at opportunity public charter schools. If an opportunity public charter school fails to meet the 75 percent at-risk student enrollment requirement described in this amendment for three consecutive years, then the opportunity public charter school must (i) petition the authorizer to amend its charter agreement; or (ii) voluntarily close.
This amendment authorizes opportunity public charter schools to establish alternative education programs in compliance with the existing law relevant to alternative schools for suspended or expelled students.
This amendment requires the department to recommend, and the state board of education to adopt, an opportunity public charter school accountability framework in compliance with all federal requirements under the Every Student Succeeds Act. The opportunity public charter school accountability framework must include multiple measures and include performance metrics and targets that ensure students are prepared for post high school success. The department must convene an opportunity public charter school accountability working group to provide input and feedback prior to the recommendation of an accountability framework to the state board of education.
AMENDMENT #2 adds that, with regard to enrollment, an opportunity public charter school that provides a residential program must not enroll a student who is in the custody of the department of children's services in the opportunity public charter school's residential program. However, this provision does not prohibit:
(1) An opportunity public charter school that does not provide a residential program from enrolling a student who is in the custody of the department of children's services; or
(2) An opportunity public charter school that provides a residential program from enrolling or re-enrolling a student who is in the custody of the department of children's services in the opportunity public charter school's residential program if the student was enrolled in the opportunity public charter school's residential program at the time the student was placed in the custody of the department of children's services.
ON APRIL 22, 2024, THE HOUSE SUBSTITUTED SENATE BILL 2820 FOR HOUSE BILL 2922, ADOPTED AMENDMENTS #1 AND #2, AND PASSED SENATE BILL 2820, AS AMENDED.
AMENDMENT #1 makes the following changes:
(1) Revises the provision defining "at-risk student" to mean a student who, at the time of enrollment in an opportunity public charter school, is a member of a family with a household income that is below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, and meets at least one of the following criteria: (i)-(viii) in the bill summary by, instead, requiring that the student is a member of a family with a household income that is below 400 percent of the federal poverty level, and meets at least one of the following criteria: (i)-(viii) in the bill summary;
(2) Adds to the provision in the bill authorizing an opportunity public charter school to be formed to provide high-quality educational options for students residing within this state by requiring participation in an opportunity public charter school to be based on parental choice or the choice of the legal guardian or custodian;
(3) Revises the provisions requiring the Tennessee investment in student achievement (TISA) formula school funds and the average per pupil local funds received by the LEA in the current school year above those required by the TISA for each student member in the opportunity public charter school in the prior year to follow an at-risk student who transfers to an opportunity public charter school, but who resides in an LEA other than the LEA in which the opportunity public charter school is located, into the LEA in which the opportunity public charter school is located. The receiving LEA must not charge tuition. This amendment, instead, requires the TISA formula school funds generated by an at-risk student who transfers to an opportunity public charter school located in an LEA other than the LEA in which the at-risk student resides, and the average per pupil local funds received in the current school year by the LEA in which the at-risk student resides in addition to those required by the TISA for each student member in the LEA in the prior year, to follow the at-risk student into the LEA in which the opportunity public charter school is located, but only for the first school year in which the at-risk student is enrolled in the opportunity public charter school. The LEA in which the opportunity public charter school is located must not charge tuition to such students;
(4) Prohibits an opportunity public charter school from providing a residential program for enrolled students unless 50 percent or more of the students enrolled in the opportunity public charter school are residents of the LEA in which the opportunity public charter school is located, and were residents of such LEA when the students applied to enroll in the opportunity public charter school; and
(5) Deletes the provisions prohibiting an opportunity public charter school that provides a residential program from enrolling a student who is in the custody of the department of children's services in the opportunity public charter school's residential program. However, this prohibition does not prohibit (i) an opportunity public charter school that does not provide a residential program from enrolling a student who is in the custody of the department of children's services; or (ii) an opportunity public charter school that provides a residential program from enrolling or re-enrolling a student who is in the custody of the department of children's services in the opportunity public charter school's residential program if the student was enrolled in the opportunity public charter school's residential program at the time the student was placed in the custody of the department of children's services.
AMENDMENT #2 makes the following changes:
(1) Deletes the provision requiring the average per pupil local funds received in the current school year by the LEA in which the at-risk student resides in addition to those required by the TISA for each student member in the LEA in the prior year to follow the at-risk student into the LEA in which the opportunity public charter school is located, but only for the first school year in which the at-risk student is enrolled in the opportunity public charter school; and
(2) Prohibits an opportunity public charter school that provides a residential program from enrolling a student who is in the custody of the department of children's services in the opportunity public charter school's residential program. However, this does not prohibit (i) an opportunity public charter school that does not provide a residential program from enrolling a student who is in the custody of the department of children's services; or (ii) an opportunity public charter school that provides a residential program from enrolling or re-enrolling a student who is in the custody of the department of children's services in the opportunity public charter school's residential program if the student was enrolled in the opportunity public charter school's residential program at the time the student was placed in the custody of the department of children's services.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 49-1-208