Local Education Agencies

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary and official text do not provide specific details on how funding adjustments are calculated.

Adult High School Funding Rules

This act changes how local boards of education fund nonprofit and for-profit entities operating adult high schools, requiring regular reporting of enrollment numbers.

What This Bill Does

• Specifies that an entity under a contract with a local board of education to operate an adult high school must receive state and local funding from the local board of education based on anticipated or actual enrollment numbers.
• Requires these entities to report their current enrollment numbers no less than three times per year in August, December, and April for subsequent years.

Who It Names or Affects

• Local boards of education
• Nonprofit and for-profit entities operating adult high schools

Terms To Know

LEA (Local Education Agency)

An agency responsible for providing public elementary or secondary education within a defined area.

Adult High School

A school that provides high school diplomas to adults who did not complete their education earlier.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify what happens if an entity fails to report enrollment numbers as required.
• It is unclear how the funding adjustments will be calculated in practice.
• This act applies only to contracts entered, renewed, or amended on or after July 1, 2026.

Official Summary Text

Under present law, an LEA that contracts for the operation of an adult high school is required to adjust payments to contracted adult high schools no less than three times per year, in the months of October, February, and June, based on changes in revenue
, student membership, or student services. This bill ad
d
s a requirement that, for the second or subsequent year in which the adult high school is operated, the operator
is
to

provide the
LEA
with its current enrollment numbers no less than three times per
year, in the months of August, December, and April for purposes of
the LEA calculating the adjusted payments.

This bill adds that an
entity under a contract with a local board of education for
operation of an adult high school
must receive state and local school funding from the local board of education.
F
or the first year of an adult high school's operation, the
operator
must receive state and local funding based on its anticipated enrollment, which must be adjusted according to the schedule established in the contract.

For any subsequent year of an adult high school's operation, the
operator
must receive state
and local funding based on its enrollment in the immediately preceding year, which must be adjusted according to the schedule established in the contract to reflect the updated enrollment numbers reported to the local board of education.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 2386
By Akbari

HOUSE BILL 2482
By Parkinson
HB2482
012003
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49,
relative to adult education.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-409, is amended by deleting
subsection (c) and substituting instead the following:
(c)
(1) A local board of education may contract for services with a nonprofit
or for-profit entity for the operation and management of an adult high school.
(2) An adult high school operated by a nonprofit or for-profit entity under
a contract with a local board of education must receive state and local school
funding from the local board of education in accordance with subdivision (c)(4).
(3) A contract entered pursuant to this subsection (c) must:
(A) Provide the maximum enrollment for the adult high school;
(B)
(i) For the first year of the adult high school's operation,
require the nonprofit or for-profit entity to provide the local board of
education with the anticipated enrollment at least four (4) months
before the adult high school opens for its first year of operations,
which must not exceed the maximum enrollment set forth in the
contract with the local board of education; and
(ii) For any subsequent year of the adult high school's
operation, require the nonprofit or for-profit entity to provide the
local board of education with its current enrollment numbers no

- 2 - 012003

less than three (3) times per year, in the months of August,
December, and April for purposes of subdivision (c)(4); and
(C) Require the local board of education to adjust payments to
contracted adult high schools no less than three (3) times per year, in the
months of October, February, and June, based on changes in revenue,
student membership, or student services.
(4)
(A) A nonprofit or for-profit entity under a contract with a local
board of education for purposes of this section must receive state and
local school funding from the local board of education.
(B) For the first year of an adult high school's operation, the
nonprofit or for-profit entity must receive state and local funding based on
its anticipated enrollment, which must be adjusted according to the
schedule established in the contract.
(C) For any subsequent year of an adult high school's operation,
the nonprofit or for-profit entity must receive state and local funding based
on its enrollment in the immediately preceding year, which must be
adjusted according to the schedule established in the contract to reflect
the updated enrollment numbers reported to the local board of education.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 2026, the public welfare requiring it, and
applies to contracts entered into, renewed, or amended by a local board of education with a
nonprofit or for-profit entity for the operation of an adult high school on or after that date.