Section 0520-14-01-.04 - ENROLLMENT(1) Charter schools shall conduct an initial student application period of at least thirty (30) days. During this period, all eligible students may apply.(2) A charter school shall not exclude students from enrollment based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, income level, disability, proficiency in the English language, or academic ability.(3) A charter school may submit a charter school application that seeks to limit enrollment to a single sex, as long as such enrollment proposal is in compliance with federal law.(4) A charter school shall enroll an eligible student who submits a timely application, unless the number of applications exceeds the capacity of a program, class, grade level, or building.(5) Students that attended the charter school during the previous school year shall be given first enrollment preference and excluded from entering into a lottery. Students that attended the charter school during the previous school year shall not be required to re-apply. Students enrolling in a charter school from another charter school, even if both schools share a governing body, shall be subject to the lottery preferences outlined in paragraph (10) of this rule.(6) A charter school may give an enrollment preference to children of an employee of the charter school or member of the governing body of the charter school, not to exceed ten percent (10%) of total enrollment or twenty-five (25) students, whichever is less, in which case such students shall also be given first enrollment preference and excluded from entering into a lottery.(7) If, at the end of the initial student application period, the number of eligible students seeking to be enrolled does not exceed the school's capacity or the capacity of a program, class, grade level or building, then the enrollment of eligible students may proceed on a first come, first served basis.(8) If, at the end of the initial student application period, the number of eligible students seeking to be enrolled exceeds the school's capacity or the capacity of a program, class, grade level or building, then the enrollment of eligible students shall be determined on the basis of a lottery.(a) Any such lottery shall be conducted within thirty (30) calendar days of the close of the initial student application period.(b) A charter school shall provide to the Department of Education certification by an independent accounting firm or by a law firm that each lottery conducted for enrollment purposes complied with the requirements of T.C.A. § 49-13-113. Charter schools that choose to participate in the enrollment process of their authorizer may use certification from the authorizer to satisfy this requirement.(c) In lieu of an independent accounting firm or law firm, charter schools may request that the Department of Education review and approve the lottery process prior to the lottery.(9) If an enrollment lottery is conducted, a charter school shall give enrollment preferences in the following order:(a) Students enrolled in a pre-K program operated by the charter school sponsor;(b) Students who are economically disadvantaged as defined in T.C.A. § 49-3-104, if the enrollment preference is used by the charter school. A charter school may give an enrollment preference to students who are economically disadvantaged pursuant to T.C.A. § 49-13-113. A charter school may request, but shall not require, information on an initial student application to verify that a student is legally qualified as economically disadvantaged, as defined in § 49-3-104. This information shall be utilized for the purposes of an enrollment lottery, and shall not exclude students from enrollment as outlined in paragraph (2) of this rule;(c) Students enrolled in a charter school that has an articulation agreement with the enrolling charter school; provided, that the articulation agreement has been approved by the authorizer;(d) Siblings of students already enrolled in the charter school;(e) Students residing within the geographic boundaries of the LEA in which the charter school is located who were enrolled in another public school during the previous school year; and(f) Students residing outside the geographic boundaries of the LEA in which the charter school is located; if permitted through the authorizer's out-of-district enrollment policy.(10) If enrollment within a group of preferences set out in paragraph (9) exceeds the planned capacity of the school, enrollment within that group shall be determined on the basis of a lottery.(11) A non-charter public school converting partially or entirely to a charter school under T.C.A. § 49-13-106 shall give enrollment preference to students who reside within the former school zone of the converted public school. Parents whose children are enrolled in the existing public school to be converted shall have the option to enroll their children in another public school operated by the LEA without penalty. The enrollment preference for students who reside within the former school zone of the converted public school excludes those students from entering into a lottery.(12) Students living in other school zones may enroll in a conversion charter school after those living in the school zone have the opportunity to enroll, but only if there is program, class, grade level, and building capacity to serve the out-of-zone students. If applications by out-of-zone students exceed the charter school's capacity, then enrollment of out-of-zone students shall be determined on the basis of a lottery. Out-of-zone students who attended the school the previous school year and such students' siblings may be given preference in enrollment.(13) A charter school may refuse to admit any student who is expelled from another public school or district or who is in the process of being expelled from another public school or district.Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0520-14-01-.04
Original rule filed March 25, 2010; effective August 29, 2010. Repeal and new rule filed March 21, 2012; effective August 29, 2012. Amendments filed January 10, 2018; effective April 10, 2018. Amendments filed August 29, 2018; effective November 27, 2018. Amendments filed September 29, 2020; effective December 28, 2020. Amendments filed November 30, 2020; effective February 28, 2021. Amendments filed March 12, 2024; effective 6/10/2024.Authority: T.C.A. §§ 49-13-113 and 49-13-126.