(a)

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 49-10-109

  • Department: means the department of education. See Tennessee Code 49-10-102
  • FAPE: means a free appropriate public education in compliance with the IDEA. See Tennessee Code 49-10-102
  • LEA: means a local education agency. See Tennessee Code 49-10-102
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Related services: means :
    (A) Transportation and such developmental, corrective, and other supportive services required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education, including speech-language pathology and audiology services. See Tennessee Code 49-10-102
  • Special education: means specially designed instruction, at no cost to the parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability, including instruction conducted in the classroom, home, hospitals, institutions, and other settings, and instruction in physical education. See Tennessee Code 49-10-102
(1) If an LEA is found by the commissioner of education to have failed to provide a FAPE to all children with disabilities who by law are entitled to receive a FAPE from the LEA, then the commissioner may withhold all or any portion of the Tennessee investment in student achievement formula (TISA) funding for the LEA as, in the commissioner’s judgment, is warranted.
(2) The denial of TISA funding under subdivision (a)(1) may continue until the failure to provide the required special education or related services is remedied.
(3) Whether or not the commissioner elects to withhold TISA funding pursuant to subdivision (a)(1), the commissioner shall ensure the provision of a FAPE, and may do so by providing the education directly.
(b) The commissioner shall not take action pursuant to subsection (a) until after providing a public hearing with due notice and preserved on a record that establishes the failure of the LEA to provide special education or related services of an adequate quantity and quality.
(c) Any costs incurred by the department in administering this section are direct charges against the LEA and must be paid by the LEA. If an LEA fails to make timely payment, then the department may make the payment and obtain reimbursement from the LEA through the appropriate judicial proceedings.
(d)

(1) When the commissioner is providing special education or related services pursuant to this section, it is the commissioner’s purpose to assist the LEA in assuming or reassuming the LEA’s full responsibilities for providing education for children with disabilities.
(2) No TISA funding for special education shall be given to an LEA during, or for, any period for which the LEA’s provision of special education is being administered directly by the commissioner on behalf of the LEA pursuant to this section.
(3) The commissioner shall return responsibility for providing a FAPE to the LEA as soon as the commissioner finds that the LEA is willing and able to fulfill its responsibilities pursuant to law.
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