Attorney General Opinions
Relating to County Government

2003 Education

A city school board and a county school board may enter into an agreement to create a joint board to operate one or more schools in the county without the necessity of any other local approval. There is no limit on the number of schools that could be operated under the agreement. Opinion No. 03-160 (December 8, 2003).

Tennessee’s law requiring the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools is constitutional because students and teachers are not required to participate. Opinion No. 03-129 (October 3, 2003).

For a school to require a payment of a fee, it must be authorized by the board of education and payment of the fee cannot be a condition of attending public school or of using school equipment while receiving educational training. Opinion No. 03-116 (September 15, 2003).

The commissioner of education is authorized to grant waivers for charter schools under certain criteria, but cannot grant waivers in the areas listed in T.C.A. § 49–13-105(b), which include civil rights, health and safety, public records, immunizations, weapons possession, background checks and fingerprinting of personnel, special education, student due process, parental rights, assessment and accountability, open meetings and equivalent time of instruction. Opinion No. 03-107 (August 27, 2003).

An LEA cannot refuse to enroll a child who is in the custody of DCS even if that child has been suspended or expelled from another LEA, unless the child was expelled less than a year previously for a Azero tolerance@ offense under T.C.A. ' 49-6-3401(g). Opinion No. 03-105 (August 21, 2003).

Consolidation of schools in a county, including special school districts created by private act, is governed by T.C.A. § 49-2-1201 et seq., pursuant to which a unification education planning commission may be established, a plan of consolidation adopted, and a referendum held. Under T.C.A. § 49-2-1002, a special school district also may, after an affirmative vote in a referendum, transfer its schools to the county and thereafter the county would be responsible for the schools. Current law prohibits the creation of any new special school districts. Opinion No. 03-102 (August 19, 2003).

Students who have not been enrolled in a failing school cannot enroll in a new type 1 charter school even if the LEA agrees to allow such enrollment. Opinion No. 03-090 (July 24, 2003).

Tennessee law authorizes three types of charter schools: (1) a school for students coming from schools failing to make adequate yearly progress; (2) a school to meet the needs of special education students; and (3) a school working in concert with a state public higher education teacher training institution. A student from a school that is not failing is not eligible for enrollment in a type 1 charter school. Charter schools are responsible for providing special education services. The chartering LEA is responsible for administering state tests. Opinion No 03-083 (July 2, 2003).

A county is not required by law to share TVA revenue funds with another school district in the county. Opinion No. 03-080 (June 20, 2003).

Charter schools may be formed to work in concert with public higher education institutions if at least 75% of the students enrolled are from a school failing to make adequate yearly progress, or themselves fail to make adequate yearly progress, or are eligible for free or reduced price lunches; the remaining 25% of enrollment has no specific restrictions. The admission priorities that apply when applications exceed capacity do not apply if applications do not exceed capacity. While a church is not expressly excluded from sponsoring a charter school, it would be very difficult for a church to meet the eligibility requirements for a public, nonsectarian, non-religious school. After application for charter school status is denied, the sponsor has 15 days to correct deficiencies and resubmit the application; an ineligible sponsor is not a deficiency that can be corrected. In such a case, a new sponsor would need to file a new application. Opinion No. 03-046 (April 16, 2003).

While the legal basis for the Memphis City School Board’s existence is unclear, a determination of the board’s legal status and composition would have to be made by a court of competent jurisdiction. The Memphis City School System is a special school district. Opinion No. 03-038 (April 2, 2003).

The board of education of the Memphis City Schools did not terminate in 1968 under the terms of the private act that created it. Because the Memphis City School Board is a special school district and not a city school system, the city council has no authority to call for a referendum to abolish the system. Only the school board of the special school district has the authority to call for such a referendum and transfer the schools to the county. Opinion No. 03-037 (April 2, 2003).

A local school system cannot withhold a student’s report card, diploma, or other documents for failure to pay fees assessed to provide instructional materials and other classroom supplies. Such documents could be withheld for failure to pay other charges, such as fees for extracurricular activities, library fines, parking or traffic fines, and reasonable charges for lost or destroyed textbooks. Opinion No. 03-027 (March 14, 2003).

If a municipality in Shelby County which does not operate its own public school system voluntarily makes a financial capital contribution to assist in defraying the cost of constructing a public school which will serve county school students, the contribution is not required to be shared with other LEAs in the county. Opinion No. 03-008 (January 23, 2003).