Schools, Charter

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary text provides detailed conditions under which charter schools can operate outside their authorized LEA boundaries but does not specify funding mechanisms for additional space or facilities.

Public Charter School Expansion Act

This bill allows Tennessee charter schools authorized by a county LEA to operate outside their original geographic boundaries within the same county if they need additional space or facilities for educational purposes and enter into a lease agreement.

What This Bill Does

• Allows public charter schools authorized by a county local education agency (LEA) to operate in areas beyond their original geographic boundaries within the same county if they meet certain conditions.
• Requires that charter schools needing additional space must enter into written agreements for leasing buildings or facilities located within the same county, provided these are used for educational purposes.

Who It Names or Affects

• Public charter schools authorized by county local education agencies (LEAs).
• Students attending public charter schools.
• Local education agencies and school boards within Tennessee.

Terms To Know

Local Education Agency (LEA)

An administrative unit responsible for providing educational services to students in a specific area, such as a city or county.

Charter School

A public school that operates under a charter agreement with an authorizing entity and has more flexibility than traditional public schools but is still held accountable for meeting performance goals.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how the additional space or facilities will be funded.
• It remains unclear if this change will lead to increased competition between charter schools and traditional public schools within the same county.

Official Summary Text

This bill authorizes a public charter school to operate outside the geographic boundaries of the LEA in which the public charter school is authorized to locate in its charter agreement, if:

(1) T
he public charter school needs additional space, facilities, or buildings to serve the students of the public charter school; and

(2) The public charter school enters into a written agreement for the lease of buildings or facilities, or portions thereof,
that are located in the same county as the LEA in which the public charter school is authorized to locate in its charter agreement; provided, that the buildings or facilities, or portions thereof, leased by the public charter school are used for educatio
n
al purposes.

Present law generally requires that, in order for a county LEA to operate a school located within the geographic boundaries of a municipal LEA, the municipal LEA and the county LEA must enter into a written agreement for such purpose by July
1 prior to the start of the school year immediately following the creation of the municipal LEA. This bill specifies that a public charter school that is authorized by a county LEA may operate within the geographic boundaries of a municipal LEA pursuant

to (1) and (2) above and the requirements applicable to written agreements for the operation of a county school inside a municipal LEA do not apply to the public charter school.

Under present law, a public charter school that is authorized by the public
charter school commission must operate within the geographic boundaries of the local board of education that denied approval of the initial public charter school application. This bill specifies that such limitation does not apply if the requirements of
(
1) and (2) above are met.

This bill clarifies that out-of-district enrollment at charter schools will continue to be governed by a public charter school's charter agreement.

Present law requires an LEA in which one or more public charter schools is ope
rated to annually publish a descriptive inventory of its buildings and creates a right of first refusal for a public charter school to acquire vacant or underutilized property from the LEA. This bill specifies that such requirements only apply to an LEA
i
n which one or more public charter schools operate pursuant to a charter agreement that authorizes the public charter school to locate within the geographic boundaries of that LEA.

ON APRIL 16, 2025, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL
1162, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 rewrites this bill to permit a public charter school authorized in the county LEA for a county in which only one city school system operates to use available buildings or facilities located within the geographic boundaries
of the city school system located in the same county if:

(1) The public charter school needs additional space, facilities, or buildings to serve the students of the public charter school;

(2) The buildings or facilities are not located in an LEA that
has entered into a written agreement to allow a county LEA to operate within the city system's boundaries was established on or after January 1, 2014; and

(3) The public charter school enters into a written agreement for the lease of the buildings or fac
ilities, or portions thereof, for educational purposes.

A public charter school's use of facilities located within the geographic boundaries of a city school system pursuant to this amendment does not alter or expand the operation, control, management,
or enrollment jurisdiction of the public charter school, its authorizer, or the local board of education for the county LEA in which the public charter school is authorized. Students who reside in the county and who are enrolled in a public charter schoo
l
that is using facilities located within the geographic boundaries of a city school system pursuant to this amendment are the students of the public charter school's authorizer and must not be considered out-of-district students for any purpose.

Present
law establishes the order in which enrollment preferences must be given when an enrollment lottery is conducted for admission to a public charter school. The fifth order of priority includes students residing within the geographic boundaries of the LEA i
n
which the public charter school is located who were enrolled in another public school during the previous school year. This amendment adds that, if the public charter school is authorized in a county LEA, then such preference includes students who resid
e
in the county and who were enrolled in the previous school year in another LEA located in the same county.

Present law generally requires LEAs in which a public charter school operates to annually publish certain information concerning buildings operate
d by the LEA. This amendment specifies that an LEA in which a public charter school has not been authorized, but in which one or more public charter schools are using available buildings or facilities pursuant to this amendment, is not required to comply

with such reporting requirement.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 1020
By White

HOUSE BILL 1162
By Stevens

HB1162
003166
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49,
relative to public charter schools.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-2-140, is amended by adding the
following as a new subsection:
(h) A public charter school, as defined in § 49-13-104, that is authorized by a
county LEA may operate within the geographic boundaries of a municipal LEA pursuant
to § 49-13-137. Subsections (c)-(g) do not apply to a public charter school that is
authorized by a county LEA and that is operating within the geographic boundaries of a
municipal LEA pursuant to § 49-13-137.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-13-105(a), is amended by
deleting the third sentence of the subsection and substituting instead the following:
Except as provided in § 49-13-137, a public charter school that is authorized by
the commission must operate within the geographic boundaries of the local board
of education that denied approval of the initial public charter school application.
SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-13-113(c), is amended by adding
the language "pursuant to its charter agreement, but not pursuant to § 49-13-137," after the
language "is located" wherever it appears in the subsection.
SECTION 4. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-13-113(b), is amended by
deleting the subsection and substituting instead the following:
(b)

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(1) A public charter school authorized by the commission is open to
students residing within the geographic boundaries of the LEA in which the public
charter school is authorized to locate in its charter agreement.
(2) A public charter school that operates, pursuant to § 49-13-137,
outside the geographic boundaries of the LEA in which the public charter school
is authorized to locate in its charter agreement is not open to students residing
within the geographic boundaries of the LEA in which the public charter school is
operating pursuant to § 49-13-137, unless the LEA in which the public charter
school is authorized to locate in its charter agreement has a policy allowing out-
of-district enrollment.
SECTION 5. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-13-113(d)(4)(E), is amended by
deleting "of the LEA in which the public charter school is located" and substituting instead "of
the LEA in which the public charter school is authorized to locate in its charter agreement".
SECTION 6. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-13-113(e), is amended by
designating the existing language as subdivision (1) and adding the following as a new
subdivision:
(2) Subdivision (e)(1) does not allow a public charter school authorized by the
ASD to enroll additional students residing within the geographic boundaries of an LEA in
which the public charter school is operating pursuant to § 49-13-137.
SECTION 7. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-13-136(c), is amended by adding
the following as a new subdivision:
(7) An LEA in which one (1) or more public charter schools operate, but only
pursuant to § 49-13-137, is not required to comply with the requirements of this
subsection (c). This subsection (c) only applies to an LEA in which one (1) or more

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public charter schools operate pursuant to a charter agreement that authorizes the
public charter school to locate within the geographic boundaries of that LEA.
SECTION 8. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, Chapter 13, is amended by adding
the following as a new section:
49-13-137. Limited operation outside the geographic boundaries of the LEA.
A public charter school may operate outside the geographic boundaries of the
LEA in which the public charter school is authorized to locate in its charter agreement, if:
(1) The public charter school needs additional space, facilities, or
buildings to serve the students of the public charter school; and
(2) The public charter school enters into a written agreement for the
lease of buildings or facilities, or portions thereof, that are located in the same
county as the LEA in which the public charter school is authorized to locate in its
charter agreement; provided, that the buildings or facilities, or portions thereof,
leased by the public charter school are used for educational purposes.
SECTION 9. The heading in this act is for reference purposes only and does not
constitute a part of the law enacted by this act. However, the Tennessee Code Commission is
requested to include the heading in any compilation or publication containing this act.
SECTION 10. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it,
and applies to the 2025-2026 school year and each school year thereafter.