ACHIEVEMENT SCHOOL DISTRICT ("ASD")
Under present law, the ASD is an organizational unit of the department of education, established and administered by the commissioner for the purpose of providing oversight for the operation of schools assigned to or authorized by the ASD. Present law grants the commissioner the authority to directly operate or contract with one or more individuals, governmental entities, or nonprofit entities to manage the day-to-day operations of any or all schools placed in the ASD. Present law also grants the commissioner the authority to assign any school or grade configuration within a school to the ASD at any time such school is designated to be in priority status, as long as schools assigned to the ASD after June 1, 2017, are limited to priority schools.
Present law requires schools placed in the ASD after June 1, 2017, to only serve grades that the school served at the time the commissioner assigned the school to the ASD. Present law authorizes the governing body of a charter school to apply to the LEA to expand the grades the school serves under the provisions outlined in the Tennessee Public Charter Schools Act. Prior to the assignment of a school to the ASD, present law requires the commissioner to consider geographic clusters of qualifying schools, feeder patterns, and previous LEA-led interventions with multiple eligible schools. Under present law, nothing prohibits the ASD from establishing an alternative school to serve students assigned to the ASD.
Present law authorizes the ASD to receive, control, and expend local and state funding for schools placed under its jurisdiction, and to seek, receive, expend, manage, and retain federal funding and grant funding and to otherwise seek, obtain, expend, manage, and retain funding with the same authority as an LEA. Present law requires the ASD to receive from the department or LEA, as appropriate, an amount of state and local funds in the manner prescribed in the Tennessee Public Charter Schools Act for all schools in the ASD. Present law also requires ASD schools to receive all appropriate allocations of federal funds as other LEAs under federal law or regulation. Present law requires all funding allocations and disbursements to be in accordance with procedures developed by the department.
Present law grants the ASD the authority to receive donations of money, property or securities from any source for the benefit of the ASD and schools within the ASD; and requires all such funds to, in good faith, be disbursed in accordance with the conditions of the gifts. To the extent that any state and local funds allocated to the ASD are not used to support a school or LEA in the ASD, present law requires that they be allocated to a state reserve fund to be distributed to the appropriate LEA upon approval of the commissioner and upon the removal of the school from the ASD.
Present law authorizes the ASD to require any LEA to provide school support or student support services for a school transferred from the LEA's jurisdiction including, but not limited to, student transportation, school food service, alternative schools or student assessment for special education eligibility that are compliant with all laws and regulations governing such services. In such cases, present law requires the ASD to reimburse the actual cost to the LEA providing such services.
Present law authorizes the ASD to use any school building and all facilities and property otherwise part of the school and recognized as part of the facilities or assets of the school prior to its placement in the ASD and grants the ASD access to such additional facilities as were typically available to the school, its students, faculty and staff prior to its placement in the ASD. Present law requires such use to be unrestricted and free of charge, except that the ASD is responsible for and obligated to provide for routine maintenance and repair such that the facilities and property are maintained in as good order as when the right of use was acquired by the ASD. Present law requires that the ASD be responsible for paying all utilities in use at ASD-utilized facilities, but requires extensive repairs to buildings or facilities considered capital expenses to be the responsibility of the LEA and not the ASD. Present law requires any fixtures, improvements or tangible assets added to a school building or facility by the ASD to remain at the school building or facility upon its return to the LEA.
Under present law, if it is determined that the ASD must directly operate a school within the ASD, the employees hired to work in schools directly operated by the ASD may be deemed employees of the ASD and such employees must be under the exclusive control of the ASD. Present law requires the ASD to develop written procedures, subject to the approval of the commissioner of education, for employment and management of personnel as well as the development of compensation and benefit plans. Within the limits of the budget, present law requires staffing needs of any school within the ASD to be exclusively determined by the ASD with approval of the commissioner.
Present law grants the ASD, or the entity under contract to operate schools within the ASD, the authority to determine whether any teacher who was assigned to such school prior to the school's transfer into the ASD will have the option of continuing to teach at that school as an employee of either the ASD or the operating entity. Under present law, any tenured teacher not given that option must remain an employee of the LEA, subject to teachers' tenure laws. Present law authorizes the LEA, if it so chooses, to continue the employment of a nontenured teacher not given that option; and any teacher who accepts that option may, at the discretion of the LEA, return as an employee of the LEA, should the ASD or operating entity later determine not to continue to employ such teacher. Although certain benefits do not apply to teachers who accept the option of continuing to teach at a school placed in the ASD.
Present law grants the ASD, at a minimum, the same authority and autonomy afforded to LEAs under state law regarding the procurement of property, goods and services. Present law requires the ASD to develop written procedures for the procurement of all goods and services in compliance with the expenditure thresholds for competitive bidding outlined or permitted in boards of education law. Present law requires such procedures to be submitted to and approved by the commissioner. Present law also grants the ASD the authority to authorize the preparation and use of publications and other media for the marketing and public education needs of the ASD in order to effectively carry out its mission.
Under present law, the ASD or any entity the ASD contracts with to operate or manage schools that have been placed in the ASD may apply to the commissioner for a waiver of any state board rule that inhibits or hinders the ability of the school to increase student achievement; however, the commissioner is prohibited from waiving rules related to certain things.
This bill provides that, on or after July 1, 2024, the authority granted in all of the above provisions is no longer in effect and a school or grade configuration within a school is prohibited from being assigned to the ASD.
REMOVAL OF PRIORITY SCHOOL STATUS
Under present law, a school that has been removed from the LEA and placed in the ASD must remain in the ASD until the school is no longer identified as a priority school pursuant to performance goals and assessment laws, for two consecutive cycles beginning with the 2017 priority school list; however, a school is prohibited from remaining in the ASD for more than a 10-year period. This bill revises the prohibition provision by providing, instead, that a school is prohibited from remaining in the ASD on or after July 1, 2024.
REMAINING IN THE ASD
Under present law, if the LEA is identified as an LEA earning the lowest accountability determination pursuant to performance designations for LEAs based on performance goals and measures, and the parents of at least 60 percent of the students enrolled at the school demonstrate support for remaining in the ASD by signing a petition, then the school may remain in the ASD beyond the initial 10-year period. This bill removes this option.
IMPLEMENTING TRANSITION PLAN
Under present law, after an ASD school improves student performance such that the school is no longer identified as a priority school for two consecutive cycles, the commissioner, in consultation with the LEA, is required to implement the transition plan developed and approved by the commissioner. This bill revises this provision to provide, instead, that the commissioner must implement such plan after an ASD school improves student performance such that the school is no longer identified as a priority school for two consecutive cycles or on July 1, 2024, whichever occurs first.
PERFORMANCE DESIGNATIONS FOR LEAs
Based on an evaluation of all schools' performance data, present law requires the commissioner of education, at a minimum of every three years, to recommend for approval to the state board a listing of all schools to be placed in priority, focus or reward status pursuant to the rules, regulations and performance standards of the state board. Once approved by the state board, present law requires priority, focus and reward schools to be publicly identified by the commissioner.
Present law requires schools identified as priority schools to include the bottom 5 percent of schools in performance, all public high schools failing to graduate one-third or more of their students, and schools with chronically low-performing subgroups that have not improved after receiving additional targeted support, pursuant to applicable laws, rules, and regulations. Present law requires priority schools to be subject to one of the following interventions as determined by the commissioner of education:
(1) Turnaround through an LEA-led intervention or other school improvement process, subject to approval by the commissioner;
(2) School turnaround under the governance of an LEA innovation zone; or
(3) Placement in the ASD, as long as no school identified as a priority school is placed in the ASD if, after the school is identified as a priority school, but before the commissioner determines that the school should be assigned to the ASD, the school demonstrates student achievement growth at a level of “above expectations” or greater, as represented by the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS).
This bill repeals option (3) on July 1, 2024.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 49-1-614, 49-1-614(k)(1)(A), 49-1-614(k)(1)(C), 49-1-614(k)(3), 49-1-614(k)(4), 49-1-602(b)(2)(C), 49-1-602