(a) Sixty (60) days before the application process begins pursuant to subsection (b), a prospective charter school sponsor shall submit a letter of intent to the department of education and the authorizer of its plan to submit an application to operate a charter school.
Terms Used In Tennessee Code 49-13-107
Academic focus: means a distinctive, thematic program such as math, science, arts, general academics, or an instructional program such as Montessori or Paideia. See Tennessee Code 49-13-104
Academic plan: means a platform that supports the academic focus of the charter school and will include instructional goals and methods for the school, which, at a minimum, shall include teaching and classroom instruction methods, materials and curriculum that will be used to provide students with knowledge, proficiency and skills needed to reach the goals of the school. See Tennessee Code 49-13-104
Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
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
Code: includes the Tennessee Code and all amendments and revisions to the code and all additions and supplements to the code. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
Foreign: means a country or jurisdiction outside of any state or territory of the United States. See Tennessee Code 49-13-104
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
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
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
(b) On or before February 1 of the year preceding the year in which the proposed public charter school plans to begin operation, the sponsor seeking to establish a public charter school shall prepare and file with the authorizer and the department of education an application using the application template developed by the department in coordination with the commission and that provides the following information and documents:
(1) A statement defining the mission and goals of the proposed charter school, including the proposed charter school’s academic focus;(2) A proposed academic plan, including the instructional goals and methods for each grade level the school will serve, which, at a minimum, shall include teaching and classroom instruction methods that will be used to provide students with the knowledge, proficiency and skills needed to reach the goals of the school;(3) A plan for evaluating student academic achievement at the proposed public charter school and the procedures for remedial action that will be used by the school when the academic achievement of a student falls below acceptable standards;(4) An operating budget based on anticipated enrollment; provided, however, that such operating budget shall not exceed a ten-year projection;(5) The method for conducting annual audits of the financial, administrative and program operations of the school;(6) A timetable for commencing operations as a public charter school that shall provide for a minimum number of academic instruction days, which shall not be fewer than those required by statute;(7) The proposed rules and policies for governance and operation of the school;(8) The names and addresses of the members of the governing body;(9) A description of the anticipated student enrollment and the nondiscriminatory admission policies;(10) The code of behavior and discipline of the proposed public charter school;(11) The plan for compliance with the applicable health and safety laws and regulations of the federal government and the laws of the state;(12) The experience required of employees of the proposed public charter school;(13) The identification of the individuals sponsoring the proposed public charter school, including their names and addresses;(14) The procedures governing the deposit and investment of idle funds, purchasing procedures and comprehensive travel regulations;(15) The plan for the management and administration of the public charter school;(16) A copy of the proposed bylaws of the governing body of the charter school;(17) A statement of assurance of liability by the governing body of the charter school;(18) A statement of assurance to comply with this chapter and all other applicable laws;(19) Types and amounts of insurance coverage to be held either by the charter school or approved by the authorizer, including provisions for assuring that the insurance provider will notify the department of education within ten (10) days of the cancellation of any insurance it carries on the charter school;(20) The plan for transportation for the pupils attending the charter school; and(21) Information regarding financing commitments from equity investors or debt sources for cash or similar liquid assets sufficient to demonstrate that the charter school will have liquid assets sufficiently available to operate the school on an ongoing and sound financial basis. In lieu of cash or similar liquid assets, an applicant may provide a financial bond issued by a company authorized to issue surety bonds in this state.(c) A charter school application and any renewal application under § 49-13-121 shall include a disclosure of all donations of private funding, if any, including, but not limited to, gifts received from foreign governments, foreign legal entities and, when reasonably known, domestic entities affiliated with either foreign governments or foreign legal entities.(d) Authorizers shall require no more than five (5) paper copies of the application in addition to an electronic version of the application.(e) In reviewing and evaluating a charter application, an authorizer shall, if applicable, take into account the performance, including both student growth and achievement, of any charter school operated by the sponsor.(f) An authorizer may require a public charter school sponsor to pay to the authorizer an application fee of up to two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) with each charter school application the sponsor files.
