(a) An authorizer‘s approval of a public charter school application must be in the form of a written charter agreement signed by the sponsor and the authorizer, which shall be binding upon the governing body of the public charter school. The charter agreement for a public charter school must be in writing and must contain all material components of the approved application required under § 49-13-107(b).
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 49-13-110

  • Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
  • Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
  • Authorizer: means :
    (A) A local board of education, the Tennessee public charter school commission, or the achievement school district as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 49-13-104
  • Charter agreement: means a fixed-term renewable agreement between a public charter school and the authorizer that outlines the rights, responsibilities, and performance expectations of each party. See Tennessee Code 49-13-104
  • Commission: means the Tennessee public charter school commission. See Tennessee Code 49-13-104
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Governing body: means the organized group of persons who will operate a public charter school or schools by deciding matters, including, but not limited to, budgeting, curriculum and other operating procedures for the public charter school and by overseeing management and administration of a public charter school. See Tennessee Code 49-13-104
  • Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Public charter school: means a public school in this state that is established and operating under the terms of a charter agreement and in accordance with this chapter. See Tennessee Code 49-13-104
  • signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Sponsor: means a proposed governing body filing an application for the establishment of a public charter school, that:
    (A) Is not a for-profit entity. See Tennessee Code 49-13-104
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) A charter agreement expires ten (10) academic years after the first day of instruction. A public charter school may delay, for a period not to exceed one (1) academic year, the school’s initial opening. If the public charter school requires a delay in the school’s initial opening of more than one (1) academic year, then the school must obtain approval of the delay from the school’s authorizer.
(c) A renewal of a charter agreement shall be for a period of ten (10) academic years.
(d) The governing body of the public charter school may petition the authorizer to amend the original charter agreement. The state board of education shall determine the timelines for approval and the appeal process until 11:59 p.m. on June 30, 2021. Beginning July 1, 2021, the commission shall determine the timelines for approval and the appeal process. If the authorizer is the state board of education or the commission, then an appeal shall not be made of the state board of education’s or the commission’s decision to deny a petition to amend the charter agreement. The governing body of a public charter school may petition the authorizer for voluntary termination of the charter agreement before the charter agreement expires.
(e) If an LEA’s local board of education changes the grade bands for the LEA’s elementary schools, middle schools, elementary and secondary schools, or elementary or secondary schools, as those terms are defined in § 49-6-301, then the local board of education shall notify each public charter school authorized by the LEA at least one hundred twenty (120) days before the grade band changes are implemented to allow the public charter school to seek an amendment to the school’s charter agreement.
(f)

(1) Upon the termination of a charter agreement and upon the closure of a public charter school for any reason, any unencumbered public funds from the public charter school automatically revert back to the authorizer. If a charter agreement is terminated and the public charter school is closed, all property and improvements, furnishings, and equipment purchased with public funds automatically revert back to the LEA, subject to complete satisfaction of any lawful liens or encumbrances.
(2) If a public charter school is closed for any reason, then the public charter school is responsible for all debts of the public charter school. The authorizer shall not assume the debt from any contract for goods or services made between the governing body of the public charter school and a third party, except for a debt that is previously detailed and agreed upon in writing by the authorizer and the governing body of the public charter school, and that may not reasonably be assumed to have been satisfied by the authorizer.
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