2015 Tennessee Code
Title 49 - Education
Chapter 13 - Tennessee Public Charter Schools Act of 2002
§ 49-13-108 - Approval, denial of application.

(a) (1) This section shall apply only to applications for new charter schools under § 49-13-106(b)(1) that are submitted to an LEA.

(2) The local board of education shall have the authority to approve applications to establish public charter schools and renew public charter school agreements. The local board of education shall rule by resolution, at a regular or special called meeting, on the approval or denial of a charter application within ninety (90) days of receipt of the completed application. Should the local board of education fail to either approve or deny a charter application within the ninety-day time limit prescribed in this subdivision (a)(1), the application shall be deemed approved.

(3) The grounds upon which the local board of education based a decision to deny a public charter school application must be stated in writing, specifying objective reasons for the denial. Upon receipt of the grounds for denial, the sponsor shall have thirty (30) days within which to submit an amended application to correct the deficiencies. The local board of education shall have thirty (30) days either to deny or to approve the amended application. Should the local board of education fail to either approve or deny the amended application within thirty (30) days, the amended application shall be deemed approved.

(4) (A) A denial by the local board of education of an application to establish a public charter school may be appealed by the sponsor, within ten (10) days of the final decision to deny, to the state board of education. The appeal and review process shall be in accordance with this subdivision (a)(4).

(B) Within sixty (60) days after receipt of the notice of appeal or the making of a motion to review by the state board and after reasonable public notice, the state board, at a public hearing attended by the board or its designated representative and held in the school district in which the proposed charter school has applied for a charter, shall conduct a de novo on the record review of the proposed charter school's application and make its findings.

(C) The state board or its executive director, acting for the state board, may allow a sponsor to make corrections to its application on appeal, except for the elements of the application required under § 49-13-107(b)(1), (2), (4), (6), (9), (12), (13), (18) and (20).

(D) If the application is for a charter school in an LEA that does not contain a priority school on the current or last preceding priority school list and if the state board finds that the local board's decision was contrary to the best interests of the pupils, school district or community, the state board shall remand the decision to the local board of education with written instructions for approval of the charter. The grounds upon which the state board of education based a decision to remand the application shall be stated in writing, specifying objective reasons for the decision. The decision of the state board shall be final and not subject to appeal. The LEA, however, shall be the chartering authority.

(E) If the application is for a charter school in an LEA that contains at least one (1) priority school on the current or last preceding priority school list and if the state board finds that the local board's decision was contrary to the best interests of the pupils, school district or community, the state board may approve the application for the charter school. The decision of the state board shall be final and not subject to appeal. The state board shall be the chartering authority.

(5) LEAs may charge applicants an application fee in an amount approved by the local board of education. The application fee shall not exceed five hundred dollars ($500) per application.

(b) The local board of education may consider whether the establishment of the charter school will have a substantial negative fiscal impact on the LEA such that authorization of the charter school would be contrary to the best interest of the pupils, school district or community.

(c) (1) A chartering authority may disapprove a charter school application, if the proposed charter school plans to staff positions for teachers, administrators, ancillary support personnel or other employees by utilizing or otherwise relying on nonimmigrant foreign worker H1B or J1 visa programs in excess of three and one half percent (3.5%) of the total number of positions at any single school location for any school year.

(2) Notwithstanding subdivision (c)(1), a chartering authority may not deny a charter school application solely because the proposed school plans to exceed the limitation in subdivision (c)(1) in employing foreign language instructors who, prior to employment, meet and, during the period for which such instructors' H1B or J1 visas have been granted, will meet all Tennessee licensure requirements. If a chartering authority disapproves a charter school application under this subsection (c), the sponsor may appeal the decision to disapprove the application as provided in subsection (a).

(d) Except as otherwise provided in § 49-13-115, chartering authorities shall not approve an application based on conditions or contingencies.

(e) Prior to approving any charter school on appeal if the LEA's denial is based on substantial negative fiscal impact, the state board shall consider the financial impact of the charter school on the LEA. The state board may request additional information from the charter school sponsor and the LEA in regards to such consideration. The state board shall not approve for operation any charter school that is determined by the board to have a substantial negative fiscal impact on an LEA, such that authorization of the charter school would be contrary to the best interests of the pupils, school district or community.

(f) Chartering authorities are encouraged to adopt national authorizing standards for use in reviewing charter school applications. The state board shall adopt national authorizing standards.